Thoughts of House
by cantstopobsessing
Summary: Set in around season 6, as though there was more of a gap between the beginning of the season and the revelation of Lucas; House is back at work and Cuddy is struggling to keep him at a distance and off her mind.
1. Chapter 1

Cuddy couldn't stop thinking of what House told her earlier in the day.

"You do make me feel funny."

God, why did he have to say that? She was doing fine until he said that to her.

She had to stop thinking about him. This wasn't the time, nor the place. She was home, away from work and Rachel needed her.

And Lucas.

She felt bad for keeping him a secret from House. But, she wasn't sure how well he'd take that news. 'Remember that guy that you had around because you lost Wilson, and in a weird, twisted way, you were trying to replace him with the guy who was spying on him for you? Well, when you were put away after having a hallucination about having sex with me, we decided to go out!'

Of course, she would NEVER use those words, never say it to him that way. But, no matter how gently she put it, that's how he would hear it.

When he asked if they were okay, she had no idea what to say. She thought if any time was a good time to tell him, it would be then. She just couldn't do it.

Lucas was spending the night, and after she put Rachel to bed, she got a glass of water to have near her bed and set it down on the nightstand next to her cell phone. She heard movement from where Lucas was laying down. "Are you coming to bed?"

In all honesty, she didn't want to. She still had House running through her mind and the last thing she wanted was to lay down next to Lucas who didn't really look like he was tired.

"Yeah, I am," she climbed in and he scooted over next to her and put his arm around her, and kissed her neck. She knew where this was leading. "Hey," she turned her head to look at him. "Can we not tonight? I had a long day and I'm kind of tired."

"Sure," he smiled at her, gave her a peck on the lips and loosened his grip on her, giving her more room to position herself the way she wanted, which she opted for her right side, not facing him.

What she said wasn't a complete lie. She wasn't in the mood, and she was really tired from work. Today seemed overly demanding. Although, it could be all the tension she felt between herself and House that she was trying so hard to ignore. She closed her eyes and felt her body relax all over and was almost asleep when she heard a knock on the door.

She pushed it away at first. She had to of been hearing things. She heard it again. Who would be coming over at this time of night, anyway? Then, as she heard the pattern of knocks for the third time, she opened her eyes, knowing exactly who.

She turned her head and saw that Lucas surprisingly, was already asleep. She lifted her side of the blankets a half an inch off of her, enough to slide out of the bed without disturbing him, and tiptoed out of the room, cautiously closing the door behind her and shuffled her feet to the door.

She pushed a strand of hair that blocked part of the silhouette of the person on the other side of the door. But, once she did, she recognized it as House. She took an uneasy breath and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered. "I just got Rachel to bed and I was-" he slammed his cane down an inch inside the house and took a step forward, causing her to take a step backward. He wasn't saying a word. He took more steps just like that, looked behind him to close the door that he was now completely out of the way of and looked back at her.

"House, I-" she drifted in thought when she saw his eyes staring intently into hers and leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "House, Rachel is-"

He moved his mouth just enough to speak but still kiss her. "Rachel won't remember any of this," he kissed her again, this time a little harder.

She surrendered and threw her arms around him, kissing him back. She felt his left arm wrap around her lower back and heard the crash of his cane on the ground. His right arm wrapped around her and nudged her toward the hallway to her bedroom. "No!" she shouted in a still hushed tone, pulling away from him slightly, smelling his scent all around her, remembering Lucas was in there. "The couch," she said, not wanting this moment to end.

He smirked at her with a raised eyebrow and bent back down to kiss her, now leading her to the couch in her living room.

She would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't thought of a moment like this since he came over that one night last year and kissed her. Now that it was happening, knowing she could easily get caught and ran the risk of everything blowing up all around her, she didn't care.

All she cared was she was being led to the couch with kisses; from House.

He sat down and she followed him. She wanted to look into his eyes so badly but didn't dare open her eyes. She was afraid he'd sense it somehow and open his and that would lead to them stopping. She put her arm around his neck and lowered her head to kiss the left side of it.

She heard a vibrating sound. "House," she said in between kisses on his neck. "What's that?"

He moaned in irritation. "It's my phone. Ignore it. It's just the team." She felt a kiss from him on the right side of her neck, but she couldn't ignore the phone. It seemed to be getting louder somehow. Maybe she was near the pocket he had it in. It vibrated for the second time.

Cuddy jumped. She opened her eyes and saw she was in bed and heard her phone vibrate on the nightstand. She lifted her head from the pillow looked around dazed, when she slowly came to and realized it was a dream. She let her head drop when she heard the phone fall off the nightstand from the movement of the vibration. She breathed out a sigh, and looked over at Lucas who had his back faced to her.

Hearing the vibration stop, she reached down for the phone and selected the miss call alert to see who it was: House.

She dropped the phone on her stomach, hearing the one beep that alerted her of a voice mail. She put her phone back on the nightstand without listening to it and got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

She couldn't hear his voice quite yet. Not after what she just dreamed. She started reluctantly preparing for another long and awkward day facing House, trying to not tell him about the dream or Lucas...


	2. Chapter 2

Cuddy flicked on her light and was startled by House slouched down on her couch. "God! House! What are you doing in my office?"

He grabbed his cane that was resting up against the right side of the couch and used it to help him up and limped over to the front of her desk when she walked behind it, throwing her jacket over her chair and put her briefcase and purse on the side of her desk on the floor. "Well?" she asked, when he didn't answer.

"You seem nervous."

"I'm not nervous. I'm late and I have lots to do so, tell me why you are here," she said, still avoiding looking at him since she glanced at him when walking in.

She heard him inhale, "I tried to call you earlier. You didn't answer your phone, and you didn't call me back. That tells me, that you either, don't care about my patient which means that you are very bad at your job, or, you don't care about me...which tells me...you're very bad at your job."

She rolled her eyes, sat in her chair, and finally looked at him to answer. "Not caring about you makes me bad at my job?"

"Yes," he stated. "If you don't care about me...then, you don't care about what I'm sacrificing to do to save my patient..which means..." he looked up at the ceiling, thinking things out silently. He looked back at her which he saw now her eyes were wide encouraging him to get to the point. "If something happens to ME then, well, you lose the Doctor who pulls in the most money for you so..yeah, bad at your job..." he smirked and turned to walk out.

"Wait, what are planning on doing to yourself?" she got off her chair and walked around him, blocking the door.

She was too aware that he was now just an inch away from her. Too close for her to handle. She put her left hand on the door knob to steady herself, to push the flash of her dream away.

It was then she saw that he was wearing the same shirt he was in her dream. She saw him wear it countless times before, but this time was different. This time she hated seeing the snake wrapped around the stupid skull. "Nothing, I was just saying that to see if you would care if I said I was doing something drastic," his gaze dropped from scanning her face, down a couple inches, "guess I got my answer."

"House, stop looking at my breasts."

His eyebrows raised instead of his eyes, "they were looking at me first. It would be rude of me to look away." He saw her chest rise when she inhaled and watched it fall when she let it out. He shifted his eyes to see her hand on the knob, then back to her face to see she kept a steady gaze on him.

"House?"

"Yeah?" he was staring at her unblinking.

"Don't you have a patient to check up on?"

"Beauty of a team. They check up on them, and tell me when I'm needed."

She knew she should look away from him, or walk away. Do ANYTHING. But, she couldn't get herself to move. She saw that his eyes were scanning her face again and she stood there and let him.

Then the thought of Lucas came into her head.

She shouldn't be doing this. To herself or to House. She was falling into his trap, and felt guilty for leading him on. "I should get to work," she announced.

"Okay," he said, still not moving.

"I think maybe you should too."

"Okay."

"House," she said in a stern tone.

"I'm going."

He put his left hand over hers that was still on the door knob, and turned it to open, trapping her hand. He let go and looked at her while sticking his left foot out the door with the rest of him following. "Give you an update later," he said over his shoulder. He closed the door behind him, leaving Cuddy alone. She closed her eyes, took a long unsteady deep breath and walked to her desk, forgetting what she was going to do...


	3. Chapter 3

"Have you noticed Cuddy seems to be a little..on edge, today?" House asked Wilson as he was piling on food to Wilson's tray as Wilson slid it over to the cashier to pay for his and now House's lunch.

"What do you mean on edge?" he asked when he found the twenty dollar bill in his wallet he was looking for and handed it to the cashier and smiled when she handed him his change. Wilson lifted the tray and walked to a booth with House at his right.

"Almost like, she is trying to rush you out. Like she doesn't want to be around you if you are in her office for more than five minutes."

"I...haven't noticed that. Are you sure it's just not YOU she doesn't want to be around?" they sat across from each other and while thinking over what Wilson just said, House looked at the tray rethinking what he just picked out for himself and took Wilson's choice instead.

"Why would she not want to be around me?" he asked biting into Wilson's sandwich, "I'm such a pleasure," he added when moving his food to one side of his mouth to chew and swallow.

"Of course you are. What was I thinking," Wilson added sarcastically, scowling at the bag of chips and candy bars he is now forced to eat, if he wanted to eat anything at all without going back in line which grew since they were in it.

"Oh look! There she is!" House told Wilson when seeing her opening the door to the cafeteria with her left hand, holding her cell phone to her ear with her right, smiling into it. He furrowed his brows in thought, "who is she talking to?"

Wilson looked up seeing Cuddy for himself. "Wait, be quiet. You're interrupting the bug device wavelengths I installed into her phone. I can't hear the voice on the other end," he announced, putting his hand over his right ear as though trying harder to listen to an earpiece he has that he is hearing the conversation through. He removed his hand and surrendered to the bag of chips and opened them. "You want to know who she's talking to, just ask her."

House was smiling at the little show Wilson just put on and turned his head back to Cuddy who was now waiting in line. "Whoever it is, they're making her laugh," he said, unsure if he liked what he was seeing.

House slid out of his side of the booth, grabbed his cane and started walking over to Cuddy, leaving Wilson by himself who started to eye his sandwich that House left behind.

Cuddy saw House coming towards her and rushed off the phone. "What is it, House?" she asked when slipping her phone into her lab coat pocket.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Can this wait until after lunch?"

"You'll tell me then?"

"No. I just don't want to deal with you until after lunch." She took a step closer in the line, still not having reached the food and House took that step with her while he studied her face and body language. "Why are you trying to avoid me today?"

"It's not just today. Surely you've picked up on that fact for the years we've known each other," she said looking at him.

"Yeah...but, this is different. Something is up with you," he said slowly still studying her.

"Nothings up," she retorted, now feeling nervous. Afraid he'll somehow figure it out. She heard his phone alert him that he got a text message. She waited as she saw him pull it out and read it, making a face. "Is that your team?"

"Yeah," he confessed, annoyed.

"You should get back to work."

He looked back up at her and leaned in so close that she moved her head back to avoid his face getting so close to hers they were on the verge of touching. "This isn't over, Lisa Cuddy." She watched as he instead of walking out the door, walked over to the booth where Wilson was.

"So, who was on the phone?" Wilson asked when he saw House coming, holding his sandwich about to take his second bite of it.

"Don't know yet," House snatched the sandwich out of his hands and walked away with it. Wilson sighed and watched as House left and looked over at Cuddy who was also watching him and looked relieved when he was out of sight. Wilson tilted his head in thought when he saw that thinking maybe House was actually on to something...


	4. Chapter 4

"House? House are you-" Cuddy saw him laying on the floor next to the table in the adjoining room, his right hand clutching his tennis ball with his eyes closed. "Why are you on the floor?"

House opened his left eye and saw her standing in the doorway that connects the two rooms and closed it again. "My leg hurts."

"And laying on the floor helps it?"

"No," he continued, his eyes still closed but his eyebrows were moving which gave her an idea of how he'd be moving them if she saw them. "I was hoping no one would notice me on the floor."

"You're laying in the middle of the floor. How are you supposed to go unnoticed?"

He turned his head and opened his eyes and looked at her. "I had faith in the idiocy of the Doctors in this hospital that when they came in to look for me, if they needed me for anything, they would keep looking straight ahead and never look down."

"Guess I'm too smart for this hospital then," she said with a smile.

He inhaled, "no, I wouldn't go that far. You still have your share of idiotic moments. Like disturbing me when I don't want to be disturbed," he shifted himself to face her better. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I thought you might be doing something you shouldn't be doing since I haven't seen you roaming the lobby since before lunch."

"You were looking for me?"

"NO, I just, didn't see you," her eyes shifted downward when he turned away from her to look straight ahead and watched as he was rubbing his right leg. "Is your leg really hurting you?"

"It always does."

"Are you taking anything for it?"

"Ibuprofen. Doesn't work as good as Vicodin, but, that's the rule since I got out. Trying to stay away from it."

She smiled, "that's good, House. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, sure, it's great." He squeezed his eyes shut, and rolled his tennis ball on the floor, Cuddy watching it while getting out of the way, as it hit the side of his desk and stayed there. She turned back to look at him to see he was struggling to stand up.

"Wait, let me help you," she walked to his side and bent down to help him.

"I'm fine, I don't need it," he said still struggling.

She put her right arm around his back for support, "don't be a moron. Let me help."

He smiled to himself at how much she just sounded like him, but went unnoticed by her as she was too busy grabbing his left arm and put it around her neck. She looked over at him, "House," he turned his head and looked into her eyes. They stayed in that position for a few seconds before she spoke again. "You ready to get up?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Even though House knew he would have been able to do it on his own, he liked the fact that Cuddy went over to help him. So, he put in half the effort so she could feel like he needed her.

When they stood up Cuddy walked over to the edge of the table where House put his cane before laying down and handed it to him.

He nodded as a thank you and she watched him as he walked passed her to go to his office. He put his jacket on and she followed him in there and watched as he collected the rest of his stuff. "You leaving for the day?"

"Yep."

"You're still staying with Wilson aren't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her as he tossed his backpack over his left shoulder. "Interesting. Now YOU want to know something about ME. I think I'll keep that information to myself until YOU start sharing your daily activities with me like...who you were on the phone with." She rolled her eyes; of course he would bring that back up. "Turn the light off when you leave, will you?" she watched as he opened his office door and limped down the hallway to the elevator.

"You've been quiet tonight," Lucas stated, watching as Cuddy was moving her fork around her plate but not taking a bite.

"Sorry," she said looking up. "I was just thinking...I don't know how much longer I can keep our relationship secret from House."

Lucas shifted in his chair awkwardly. "You're thinking about House?" he paused, "I don't know why we HAVE been keeping us a secret."

"I've never hid anything from House," she looked back down at her plate, trying to hide the distraught expression on her face, with Lucas noticing she never replied to his why statement.

"I say you should just tell him. If you're worried he'll find out, then the longer you hide it, the more you'll be thinking about it, and the more insane he'll make you. I know House too, and that's exactly what he's doing. He's making you insane."

"He's not," she said looking back up coming to his defense. "Well, maybe. He kept asking me who I was talking to on the phone, when we were talking, and I wouldn't tell him. But, that's only because..." she drifted off not knowing how much she should tell him. She doesn't know if House ever brought her up into conversation when they were spending time together. If he ever told him how he kissed her, and she kissed back. What that kiss almost led to.

"Only because what?" Lucas asked, pulling her out of her thought.

"Forget it, let's eat," she said stabbing her food with her fork and smiled at him.

"Yeah," he said smiling back. "Forget about House."

Cuddy felt her smile fade with that last statement of his that luckily she was able to hide behind chewing. If only she could forget House...


	5. Chapter 5

Cuddy was rushing back and forth between her office and the Clinic the next morning. It seemed to have more patients than usual and she kept getting called back in for something every time she sat back down at her desk.

At first she thought it was House screwing with her until she ran into Chase who said that he hadn't seen him yet, so whether he was there at all was questionable. His team were all in the Clinic helping out until he came and summoned them all to him.

She should have been relieved to hear that it wasn't House, but that just added him to her mind. It was later than usual and he hasn't come in yet. No, she wasn't going to do this again. She had stuff to do and she wasn't going to wonder where he was and why he wasn't there.

She left the Clinic and walked quickly across the lobby to get back to her office when she saw Lucas walk in holding Rachel. "What are you doing here? Is she okay?" Cuddy took huge strides over to them and grabbed Rachel's hand which was flying around in the air to get her attention.

"She's fine, I just wanted to come by and say hi," Lucas said with a smile.

Cuddy felt her heart rate increase when he leaned in and kissed her. "You shouldn't be here. If we are seen together by-"

"House?" Lucas looked above Cuddy up to the second level of the hospital. "I think he knows now..."

Cuddy slowly turned her head and looked up. Leaning against the railing was House. He was staring right at her and saw hurt mixed with shock and disbelief on his face. He held her gaze and she wanted to scream out 'it's not what you think!' but knew that would be a lie. It's exactly what he thought. She was in a relationship and she was hiding it from him.

Until right now.

She watched unblinking as he pushed himself up using the railing from his slouched standing position and without a word, walked away toward the elevator. She looked back at Lucas angry, "did you see him there?"

"No, I swear. Not until just now. And what's the big deal anyway? He was bound to find out, right?"

"But not today!" She turned on her heel and left Lucas standing there with a now squirming Rachel when she saw Cuddy leaving. He got a tighter grasp on her and kept watching Cuddy as she gained speed toward the elevator. "Why not today?" he shouted out, but she went through the elevator doors which opened for her in that moment and walked in without answering.

When she reached his floor and office door she saw him sitting at his computer engrossed in whatever he was looking at. She lightly knocked on the door and entered. "House?" she called out softly.

He kept his eye on the computer screen. "What do you want? My patient isn't anywhere close to better yet if that's what you're up here for," he said while clicking on something.

"That's not why I'm here."

"Then what? You want to ask me if Wilson is seeing anyone? So you can go through the list of people I know to date with a clear conscious?"

She closed her mouth tightly, tilting her head watching as he was trying to not show how hurt he was. She cautiously walked over to the chair across from his and when she sat down she saw he shifted his eyes and sighed when he saw her not leaving and swiveled his chair around to face her. "What is it?"

"I didn't want you to find out that way."

"Then how? With a wedding invitation?"

She looked down into her lap, "no," she said quietly, then looked back up. "I'm not sure when or how, but, not like this, not today."

"Today is nothing. Just any other day on the calendar."

"No it isn't."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know," she answered. She honestly wasn't sure if she did. Or ever will. But, she knew if she told him that, then it might make him feel worse, so kept that to herself.

"Then why?"

"He was there when I needed someone. He made himself available to me to help with what I needed at the time. I was suspicious of someone in the hospital and thought of him because you brought him here. And then, he started to come around more, and, he started to be good with Rachel and-" she stopped there. The expression on his face told her he didn't want to hear anymore. He nodded, in acknowledgement of what she said and almost as a thank you for her stopping.

"House, I didn't mean for this to happen. If you hadn't gone away then maybe-"

"If I hadn't hallucinated a night with you, then it would be me and not him? If that's what you're about to say, don't bother."

She sighed, shaking her head. She wanted to say just those words. She wanted him to know that she was thinking of him everyday when he wasn't there. And even now. But, she didn't say any of those things.

Instead, she stood up from her chair, walked over to his side and watched as he turned his chair to face her, looking unsure of what she was doing when she bent down close to him. She touched his right cheek with her hand and kissed his left. "Happy birthday, House. I'm sorry," she said into his ear. She straightened her stance and walked out of his office. He watched her go and touched his cheek where she kissed him...


	6. Chapter 6

"Hi."

"Uh, hi," Wilson said more as a question then a response to Cuddy as she snuck up on his left as he was leaning over the desk in the lobby reading the chart given to him minutes before on a patient he was taking on.

"What? I can't say hi to you anymore?" Cuddy asked looking at him curiously.

"No, you can. I just, wasn't expecting it."

"Oh, why? 'Cause House told you about me and Lucas and now you feel left out because I kept you in the dark too?"

"Yeah!" Wilson answered.

Cuddy leaned in closer to him, "the only reason I didn't tell you was because I knew you would tell House, and I didn't want you too," she paused to watch his reaction, his eyebrows lifted then dropped, knowing she was probably right. "So, how was his birthday, yesterday? Did you guys do anything? You order him a hooker?" she asked because she wanted to know, but didn't want the answer to be yes.

"I offered, but, strangely, he didn't accept," Wilson said looking in the direction of her right shoulder but she knew he wasn't really seeing it. He looked confused as he was reliving the moment of his decline, not knowing why. "So, anyway. We just stayed in, ordered food and had a few drinks."

"You guys sound like a real married couple," Cuddy started in teasing way taking comfort in knowing that they spent it at home.

"Who is?" Cuddy was startled by the sound of House's voice so close and glanced to her left and saw him not more than an inch away, leaning on the desk they were all standing in front of.

"Apparently we are," Wilson answered.

"Oh Honey, it's out in the open now. It's a shame, really. We should have told people. Think of all the gifts we could have gotten!" Wilson smiled and quietly excused himself by taking his chart and walking to the elevator when he saw Cuddy now facing House.

He had a smile on his face when watching Wilson, taking pleasure in entertaining him and felt Cuddy's stare on him. He looked at her with his smile fading. "What is it, Cuddy?" he asked quietly.

"Can you come to my office? I want to talk to you for a minute." He nodded 'yes' and waited for her to take the lead and limped in behind her.

She opened the door and she headed to her desk chair when he walked in and closed the door behind him, taking a seat in the chair next to her couch facing her desk. "What do you want to talk about?"

She sighed, looking into his eyes before she said anything. "I just wanted to say I was sorry again for yesterday-"

"You said you were sorry," he commented, remembering those being the last words she said to him before walking out.

"I know. But, I, meant for the timing. That sorry was for me being in a relationship. This is..."she sighed again taking him in sitting in her office. She never knew she would miss him so much when he was gone, and here he is in front of her. "He shouldn't have come here. Not on your birthday. I'm sorry for that..he didn't know-"

House scoffed. "Of course he knew! He knows everything about me! He probably came here on purpose," he paused to look at her. "And since when do you apologize on anyone's behalf?...Besides me?"

Cuddy felt so stupid. House was right. He had to have known. She was just so quick to believe him at his word when he said he had no idea. She sat there staring at him, not knowing what to say. He used his cane that his right hand never let go of to lean on to stand up, sensing her bewilderment in what he just pointed out to her. "Is that all you wanted to say, or, do you have a patient for me?"

"I, yeah.." she started shuffling around with the files and instead of handing it to him from where she sat which he was expecting, she stood up and walked around her desk and stood next to him with the file in her hand.

She stopped a couple inches away from where he stood and she stared into his blue eyes that were looking at her questioningly. "Are you sure you're happy?"

She placed the file in his left hand that she had in her right without breaking eye contact with him. "I'm trying to be."

His right eyebrow arched up. "You have a funny way of showing it, you know?"

"I've been told."

"By Lucas?"

Hearing him say his name reminded her of what she was doing. She wasn't the kind of person to flirt with other men when she was in a relationship with someone else. Unless, that other man she was flirting with was House. All the times she had tried to date other men, she either seemed to run into him, or, it would be a work thing, or he would just find her.

It all came back to him.

"House, get to work."

His right hand was pawing for the doorknob, keeping his focus on Cuddy as she heard the bang of his cane against the door as his held it between his thumb and pointer finger loosely. "Fine. I'll get to work, Cuddy." He succeeded in finding the knob and opened the door. "See you later."

She watching him leave then turned her back to the door and took a deep breath while closing her eyes. She rubbed her hands over her face and walked to her desk to start the day, reminding herself to have a talk with Lucas when she got home...


	7. Chapter 7

Cuddy was staring at the pages of her book she was holding while sitting up in bed, replaying the day at work instead of reading.

House was trying to stay away from her. When she saw him talking to a nurse in the Clinic she felt hurt, but, it's not like she could say anything to him about it. He was paying attention to her and only her before he knew about the relationship. What was she really expecting from him? To pursue her, ignoring the fact that she was seeing Lucas? A part of her wanted him to.

But, he seemed different since he'd been back. He was being the mature adult in this and is leaving her alone, letting her try and be happy with her life while he tries to move on with his.

She felt ashamed to admit that was another big reason why she didn't want to tell him about Lucas. Besides hurting him, she liked the attention she was getting from him.

She heard the water being shut off from the shower in the bathroom and she realized she still hadn't talked to Lucas about what he did, why he came on House's birthday.

She looked above her book when he walked out of the bathroom with his hair still wet and climbed into bed next to her. "Hey," she started, closing her book and set it on the nightstand next to her.

"Yeah?" he asked with a smile looking at her, sitting up.

"Why did you come in to the hospital yesterday?"

"I told you, to say hi."

"No, I know that, by why yesterday? Why not the day before, or today?"

He furrowed his brows at her, "is this about House?"

"What makes you ask that?" she asked defensively.

"Because it seems ever since he got back, every conversation, or every question you have for me always comes back to House," he stated, irritated. "Do you care about him?"

"What do you mean do I CARE about him? I've known him for half my life, how am I not suppose to care about him?"

"That's not the kind of 'care' I mean. I mean, it almost seems like you care more about him then you should."

"That's absurd. I do not," she retorted, feeling like she was on the spot. "But, you never answered my question. Why that day? Why his birthday of all days?"

"I didn't know it was his birthday."

"Of course you did," she said, not believing he is still lying to her. "You had to of. After spending all that time with him, doing what you do, you can't honestly tell me that he never mentioned his birthday, or, if he hadn't you had to have seen it written down somewhere!"

He hesitated, never thinking this would come up again. "Fine. Maybe I did. Maybe I wanted him to know because I didn't like the way you were always talking about him. Always telling me the things he did or, said. I wanted him to back off. And the only way I thought he would for sure is if he knew about us."

"Well, you obviously don't know House as well as I do. He doesn't back off just because something gets in his way. If anything it drives him more toward whatever it is!"

"He still does that? Even after what he's been through? After Mayfield."

"Yes," she lied. She wanted him to still have that and thought maybe if she said it out loud, it would somehow change that part of him back. She was happy he was trying to stay away from Vicodin and that he seemed almost more caring about things and people. But, she wished he would fight a little harder. "And it's actually a little insulting that you think I have no say in what happens in my relationships with people. That I will just blindly sit by and let two men decide who gets to have me!"

"Right, because House would never stoop down to that level." Lucas scoffed at the idea that he isn't that childish. "And you would sit blindly by and be fine with it, if one of them were him," he added.

Cuddy stared at him knowing that if she said he wasn't as bad as he was before Mayfield, at least, not to her, then he might also think she just lied about his not backing away from a challenge. "I think maybe you should go home tonight."

"What?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "You can't be serious. All because I showed up on House's birthday?"

"Not just because of that," she said quietly. He looked at her waiting to elaborate but she never did.

"Okay, then, should I come back tomorrow night?"

"I don't know," she said in the same tone, looking at her lap.

She never looked back up until he was out of the bed and out of the room. She bit the inside of her left cheek holding all her emotions in and heard the front door open and close, following with the sounds of a car start.

A tear escaped her right eye and she just let it slide down her cheek without wiping it away.

She looked to the left side of her, where Lucas just vacated and another tear fell when she wondered what House was doing and wished he was laying there next to her...


	8. Chapter 8

Cuddy woke up a little late the next morning, having fallen asleep before she set her alarm to wake her for work. She saw she had a couple voicemails from Lucas that she listened to but didn't return. He was asking if he would see her today but, she didn't know. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him.

She rushed through a shower and put makeup on as fast as she could without it looking sloppy and got to the hospital nearly an hour later than usual. She went into her office to drop her stuff off and couldn't fight the urge to go up and see if House had come in yet. It still seemed a little early for him, but, she didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk to him if he were free.

She reached his floor and saw that he had in fact showed up, seeing him sitting at his desk, his glasses on, and face in a book. She opened the door and took a couple steps in. "House, I-" she stopped mid-sentence in shock when she saw his right arm moving back and forth under his desk. "Oh my God, at work?" she screeched when she turned her head to the right and put her hand up to cover her face.

"What?" he looked down confused. "No! That's not what I'm doing! I'm rubbing my leg! Look!" he stood up to expose that his pants were up and in tact and she slowly turned her head back to see that he wasn't lying.

She sighed, "well, it's not like you can blame me in thinking that when it comes to you."

He grinned at her, knowing she was probably right. But, then looked at her suspiciously, tilting his head to the left, leaving his glasses on which he usually would have taken off by now. "Your eyes look a little red, and puffy. Have you been crying?"

She both hated and loved that he looked so concerned. "No."

His left hand slowly made its way to the rim of his glasses and pulled them off and set them on his desk, his eyes staying on her. "I think you're lying to me. Are you alright?"

She sighed, giving in. She came up here to talk to him and that's what he was doing; talking to her. So, she sat down in the chair across from him, and he waited for her to speak. This definitely wasn't the House she was used to. He seemed more caring than his usual self. But, she thought it was nice. "Lucas and I got in a little bit of a fight last night."

She saw his body language change, starting to look uncomfortable. "You know, funny thing, I forgot all about this patient I had," he reached for his cane that was resting against his desk behind him and he used it to lean on to stand up from the chair. "I should probably go see how that person is-"

"You don't have a patient," she called out, stopping him from leaving the office. "I haven't given you one yet."

He let a long breath out, turning to face her who was still sitting in the chair unmoved. "Look, it's not that I don't care you're upset. It's just...I don't know if I'm up for a Lucas talk right now. So, how about, you go talk to Wilson, and he can filter it out for me later. Does that sound good?"

He saw her look down into her lap when he turned to walk out of his office when she spoke again. "We fought about you," she said softly.

House stopped limping away and closed his eyes, knowing he may regret what he was about to do. He turned around to face her and started heading back to his desk and she took notice of how bad he was limping and wished she could rub it for him. She hated seeing him in pain because it reminded her of how hard he was working on not going back on Vicodin and she wished she could be there for him more than a friend or a colleague.

He sat back down at his desk and kept his eye on the open book that he walked away from a minute ago. "Was it just a fight?"

Cuddy took a second before answering, and when she did, it was with a question. "Are you asking if I'm still with him?"

He raised his eyes to look at her, "yeah, I guess I am."

"Yes, he left me a couple messages asking to see me today. But, I don't think I'm going to."

"So, you're just not seeing him for a few days then. So why tell me this?"

She sighed. "I don't know. It felt like I should. I feel like I should tell you everything that goes on in my life. And because-" she drifted and he lifted his head up in anticipation. "Because, I want you to know I care enough about you to fight for you."

"But that's nothing new. You've been fighting for me against patients wanting to sue because of me, and doctors who are mad at me who-"

"House, that's my job."

He nodded his head, "right." He stared at her, waiting to see if she would say how much she cared, but said nothing. That told him that she may not anytime soon, and that she and Lucas actually did just have a 'fight.' "Well," he started when she stared back at him without speaking, "I have to go find my team," he got up and left his office and took a left and felt pain shoot through his leg.

It was acting up more than normal in the last couple days and the Ibuprofen wasn't helping. He didn't want anyone to see that he was in that much pain and since he couldn't hide in his office with Cuddy still there he tried to get to the janitor's closet that was around the corner. He bit his lip in agony and only made it to the bench at the end of the hall before he couldn't take it anymore and clutched onto his thigh, trying to grab the wall for support but fell to the floor.

Cuddy was pulled out of her thought of what just happened when she heard the sound of something or someone falling and walked out of his office and saw him laying down, with a cut on his forehead from the corner of the bench that scraped him on the way down.

"House!" she ran to his side and sat down on the floor next to him, putting her left arm around his back to help him sit up. "What happened? Is it your leg?"

"No," he said strained in pain, which told her he was lying.

"How long has it been bad?"

"Just a day or two, it's nothing," he continued, breathing through the pain.

Cuddy felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. She knew his pain gets worse when he is bothered by something, having it act as a reflection of what he's going through emotionally. She couldn't help but think it was because of her and Lucas.

She saw him reach into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Ibuprofen and dumped five in his right hand. She grabbed his arm, stopping him from popping them all in his mouth at once. "House, that's too much," she commented.

"It's fine. I'll be fine," he spat out.

She continued to hold his arm and looked at him with a sad expression. "Come on, get up. I'm taking you back to Wilson's for the day. You're not staying here," he felt her arm slip around his back when she released his arm to help him up. He took two pills and slipped the rest in the bottle and argued.

"But, I might get a patient that I still need to-"

"I'm sure your team can handle it. They can call if they have to. But you, are going home."

He bent his left leg to help her get him up and pushed down on the floor with his left foot at the same time she stood and hoisted him up with her arm around him.

She grabbed his cane with her free hand and winced at his moans of pain that it caused him walking down the hall to get to the elevator to leave...


	9. Chapter 9

House sat staring out the window of the passenger side of Cuddy's car without speaking. She was so careful with him going to the elevator and then helped him sit down while she gathered her things up to leave. He normally would fight and argue, insisting he didn't need the help, but, a part of him wanted it; enjoyed getting it from her. So, he kept his mouth shut and let her. And now, she was taking him to Wilson's place, which was now, his also.

He felt her look over at him from time to time, watching as he rubbed his leg, but didn't say anything. He wanted to know what was going through her head, if she made a decision about Lucas or not, but didn't ask.

They reached his place and they both got out of the car. House said he could walk to the door just fine on his own, but she stayed on his right, ready to grab him at any time. But, she never had to. He pushed through the pain and got to the front door and dug his keys out of his pocket to unlock it.

"You don't have to stay here," he told her when he saw she was taking off her jacket and placed her purse on the couch.

"I know I don't. But, I'm going to for a little while. Make sure you're okay, then I'll go back to work."

He nodded and she reached out for him when she saw his limp got worse then when he walked to the door and followed him to his room.

"This is nice," she said, trying to make conversation when they walked through the door.

"Shut up, no it's not. It's more an Amber shrine then a room."

She looked around and took notice of all the pictures of her that were up. "How is he doing?"

He shrugged, "I don't ask. It seems like it would be a long conversation."

She expected as much, so decided she would try and ask herself one of these days. He sat on the edge of the bed, threw his left leg over and grabbed his right thigh and held it while he carefully placed it next to his left and sat up. Cuddy sat at the bottom of the bed, looking at him with sympathetic eyes which was starting to make him feel weak. "Seriously, you don't have to stay."

"I'm going to get myself some coffee," she announced standing up, ignoring what he just said. He sighed through his nose when watching her walk out the door and slid down to change his position from sitting to lying down.

Cuddy started the coffee and reached for a mug and waited for it to be done before going back into the room. She felt nervous being there alone with him. Not sure if she trusts herself. She thought to grab her cellphone out of her purse in case the hospital needed to get a hold of her and went back into the kitchen once she did, and waited by the coffee maker.

She smiled to herself while looking around, envisioning House and Wilson here after work. She could only imagine the type of conversations they have when they aren't being told to work, and no one else is around to listen. She was glad he had at least Wilson to turn to. Without him around, who took him in the way he did when House got out of Mayfield, she wouldn't know where House would be right now.

Or, if he would have even cared enough to try and get better if he knew he didn't have anyone on the outside to care for him the way Wilson is.

Her head dropped, looking at the floor in shame. She should have been like Wilson. She should have been waiting, ready to help. Instead, she was dating a guy she met through him.

She jerked when the coffeemaker beeped, alerting her it was done.

She pawed at the mug she selected and poured half a cup in for starters. She didn't know how long she would end up being here but, half a cup seemed good enough for now.

When she was done in the kitchen, she took her mug and cell phone with her back to the room. She walked in and saw him laying down on his back with his eyes closed. She sighed silently at the sight of him. He looked exactly how she imagined he would when she wished he was in her bed next to her after Lucas left.

She placed the mug and cell on the nightstand and sat at the edge of the bed, next to him. She watched as his stomach moved up and down in rhythm of his breathing. She looked at his right leg and saw that his right hand laid resting on top of it as though he fell asleep while rubbing it.

She looked up at his face while tilting her head to the left, taking in how peaceful he looked. As if out of her control, her right hand moved over to his hair that was the shortest she'd ever seen it in years and started stroking it on his right side. She wanted his life to be better than it was. It didn't seem fair that a man so brilliant as he was should be in so much misery.

She decided she should let him sleep, but before she did, she bent down and kissed his forehead, right above his left eyebrow. She hovered close over him for a second and backed away, going back into her sitting position and was starting to stand up.

"What was that for?" she heard him mumble.

"I...thought you were asleep," she answered startled that he was awake, still sitting on the edge of the bed, never having stood up yet. She looked at him and saw his eyes slowly open back up.

"No, I'm not."

She sat mute, staring at him, not knowing what to say. She didn't know what to tell him. She didn't know why she did it.

He bent his arms and used his elbows to help push him up to sitting position which made his face an inch away from hers. Their eyes were still locked with each others and House shifted his eyes at her lips when he saw she licked them. He looked back up at her eyes then down at her mouth again and leaned in and touched his lips to hers.

Not knowing if she wanted it or not, he started the kiss very light, almost playfully. When she didn't pull away, he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out and touched her lips with it.

She opened her mouth, welcoming him inside, the kiss hardened, and he moved his left arm and wrapped it around her. He fell back onto the mattress, losing half his support that was holding him up, but she fell with him, not breaking the kiss.

Their tongues intertwined with each others, House hearing Cuddy's breathing getting louder. He moved his hand up her back and stopped in her hair. His hand traveled all the way through, and cradled her head.

He heard a cell phone ring and opened his right eye to see if he could see whose it was, and closed it when all he could see was Cuddy's hair that fell around his face.

She moaned in annoyance inside his mouth and he felt her right hand on his chest, pushing herself up and he slipped his tongue back inside his mouth when he felt hers leave his and her lips lift off.

He watched her flip her hair back over her shoulder and look at the two cell phones that were next to each other and saw that the one ringing was hers. Her heart raced when she saw the name calling started with an "Luc," feeling like she was just caught. But, let out a sigh when she looked at the rest of the name and saw that it read "Lucy." A new nurse at the hospital.

She looked at House when she pawed at her phone, "the hospital. I have to get this," he nodded awkwardly and watched her as she answered.

"What do you mean?" she paused and he saw that her face grew with concern. "Well how did that even happen?" she put her left hand up to her forehead and closed her eyes like she got a headache. "Okay," she said through a sigh. "I'll be right there." She hung up and looked back at House.

"What happened?"

"There's someone in the Clinic who is causing problems...getting into things. They want to take him up to the Psych ward but he's refusing to go. They don't know what to do and want me to go over there to see if I can talk him down."

House nodded and looked down and felt her weight lift off the bed as she stood up and started heading towards the door. "Cuddy," he said looking up at her and seeing her turn back around to look at him. "What does this mean?"

She sighed, knowing what he was referring to. "I don't know. We'll talk later."

He looked back down and heard her walk out the door and out of the apartment, leaving him alone until Wilson was off work...


	10. Chapter 10

House felt better after one full day of rest, and was ready to go back to work the next day. He always felt more accomplished if he could avoid seeing patients there then from home. Being home just made it too easy on him to ignore them. He enjoyed the challenge of hiding from them while in the hospital. So, he and Wilson showed up together, Wilson having driven them both in, as they discussed Cuddy.

House told him that they kissed, but Wilson wasn't too convinced. "Are you sure it was real this time? You haven't been sneaking Vicodin have you?"

"Do you think I would be this annoyed with you if I were high on Vicodin?" House snapped when they were waiting for the light to turn green, five miles away from the hospital. Wilson looked at House skeptically. "Okay, so maybe I would. But I'm not. It was real. And I can prove it when we get there."

They rode the rest of the way in silence and they both walked to Cuddy's office, with Wilson lingering near the door, letting House go in first.

House opened the door and saw her looking to her right, as though someone was on the couch. "Okay, so I got Wilson out here and-" he saw the surprised look on her face at the sight of him and he turned to see who was sitting on the couch. "Lucas. What are you doing here?"

"I think the better question is, what are you doing here?"

"I work here. I have the right to be here," House answered now having his whole body facing Lucas and leaning forward on his cane.

"In this office?"

"Yes! This is part of the hospital isn't it? Where do you think I go to get my patients?"

"You hide from patients."

"Not today. Today I feel niiiiice and refreshed 'cause your girlfriend gave me the day off yesterday." House answered back.

Cuddy winced at the way he said 'girlfriend.' She knew he was hurt, and she hated herself for putting him through this.

"Why don't you take another day off? I'm sure Cuddy wouldn't mind not having to see you for another day," Lucas responded smugly.

House scoffed, and when he turned to look at Cuddy to see her look of annoyance at what Lucas just said, he saw awkwardness instead. His smile slowly faded and realized how them fighting was affecting her. He let out a long breath through his nose when he saw she was looking at him, pleading silently for him to leave.

It was in that moment when he saw that he was causing her pain just like he did Stacy when she came back to try working at the hospital with him around. He was hurting her by simply being there. He felt like the guy who didn't belong.

He looked down at the floor, and over at Lucas who looked at him as though he felt he was the victor, and House turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"What happened?" Wilson asked with an overly concerned expression that House usually gets irritated by, but right now, felt comforting.

"Lucas is in there," he answered, looking down, showing defeat.

"And that's it? You're going to give up just like that?" House looked up at Wilson to see he looked shocked. "House, if you did in fact kiss her, and she kissed you back, don't you think there is a small part of her that wants you to...FIGHT for her?"

"You didn't see her in there! She didn't want me there! She looked uncomfortable as hell!"

Wilson sighed, "what now?" House demanded.

"Maybe, she looked uncomfortable because she wants...you. House," Wilson put his right hand on House's shoulder and House looked down at it and back at him when he dropped it back at his side, having got his attention. "I want you to be happy. You're not going to be happy if you aren't with Cuddy. There's a reason you hallucinated her out of all the women you've come across in your life. And there's a reason why she kissed you back."

House stared at his friend, thinking of what he just said to him. The sound of Cuddy's office door opening that they were standing to the right of, got both their attention and turned to see who it was. Lucas walked out, looking at them with a grin on his face. "You're still here, House? I thought we decided you should go back home."

They watched him walk away and House opened the door to go back into Cuddy's office and left Wilson standing alone, staring at Lucas walking out the door, glaring at him in anger.

Cuddy looked up at House when he stormed back in. "What the hell was that all about, Cuddy?" he screamed.

She sighed in response.

"You have to tell me what the hell is going on! I was there yesterday! You kissed me back! So, what's going to happen now? You're just going to act like that never happened?"

"No," she said in a serious tone.

"Then what? You still want to be with him but screw with my head whenever you get the chance? Are you TRYING to send me back to Mayfield, 'cause I gotta tell you, you're doing a pretty damn good job of it so far!"

"That's not what I'm trying to do!"

"Well, it seems it's either going to be him or me, unless you have some other guys stashed around that neither of us know about."

"I don't," she snapped.

"Then choose one!"

He turned around and walked out the office, closing the door behind him, not letting her get another word in.

"What are you going to do? Are you going to fight for her?" Wilson called out to House, when he saw him limp passed him.

"You bet your ass I'm going to fight for her!" House shouted over his shoulder, but never turned to look back at him.

Wilson smiled to himself, while watching House go towards the elevator up to his office...


	11. Chapter 11

Cuddy sighed deeply when House left her office the second time. She saw Wilson standing there awkwardly, trying hard not to look toward her, with the fear of catching her eye by accident, which told her House told him what happened. When she saw Wilson leave her view after a few seconds of lingering, she looked over at the couch that Lucas sat on.

She didn't want him there, she wasn't even expecting him. He came over wanting to know when the next time he would see her would be. "You're seeing me now" was her answer.

He looked at her in shock, in the way she said it and the fact that she did. "You're starting to sound like him."

She knew who he meant. She didn't need to ask.

Then the door opened and there he was.

Even though it was only ten in the morning she already felt exhausted from the events that occurred that had absolutely nothing to do with work. She knew she should be mad at House for coming in demanding she make a choice, but, she wasn't. He was right. She had to choose.

The reason why she started going out with Lucas, the reasons she told House when she came into his office were true. He was dependable. Made himself available. But, House seemed different. He almost seemed to be embracing all the qualities she always wished he had before Mayfield.

Her lips felt dry and licked them, not having any chapstick with her and a shiver ran down her back, remembering what happened when she licked her lips when she was alone with House. He was so soft at first. When he put his arm around her there was something about the way he did it that made her feel so cared for. So important.

She bit the right corner of her bottom lip, trying to hide the smile that was forming, remembering when she fell on top of him. She didn't know if he knew she noticed, but she felt him start to get aroused by that kiss. She liked knowing that she did that to him. If the hospital hadn't called, who knew how far it would have gone. She was right there in the moment with him, and thinking back on it now, she wasn't too sure she would have stopped anything from going too far.

She let her head fall behind her, hitting the back of her chair, and she looked at the ceiling to her right. He was over there somewhere, a couple stories up. She envisioned him sitting in his office, talking to his team about the patient they were treating when he was at home. Wondering if in the back of his mind, he was thinking of her.

A few hours had passed and House was leaning up against the wall next to the cafeteria door twirling his cane, waiting for Wilson.

"You couldn't go in without me?" he asked when he got up to him.

"No," House said flatly.

They both walked in together and fell in line. "So, how are things going?"

"Things? What things are you referring to, Dr. Wilson?"

"You know what I'm referring to," Wilson said, as they both grabbed trays and started piling on food.

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes, FINE," House looked over at him and quickly motioned his head in the direction of the door where Cuddy just walked in from, to get Wilson to shut up.

He noticed this and changed the subject. "So, monster trucks this weekend?" Wilson asked, louder than normal.

"Yeah!" House exclaimed.

"I was thinking we'd make a weekend out of it. You know, rent a hotel somewhere instead of going home. You haven't done anything fun since you got out of Mayfield. This will be good for you."

House stopped putting food on his tray, put his left hand on Wilson's shoulder, and his right hand on his chest and widened his eyes with a closed-mouth smile, "you're so good to me, Honey. How would I live without you?" he asked dramatically.

"Get off!" Wilson said annoyed, jerking his shoulder to get House to remove his hand.

They remained quiet until they reached the cashier. "Just these two?" the cashier asked, having been there long enough to know Wilson gets tricked into paying for both every time.

"No, wait," House announced. He grabbed his right thigh and shifted over a step to the side and grabbed around the person next to him to get to Cuddy's tray and placed it next to his. "This one too."

Wilson gave him an irritated look. "Are you sure those are all the lunches I'm paying for today?"

"Oh relax. I'll pay you for Cuddy's."

"And yours?"

He scoffed, "no."

The cashier gave Wilson the total and while he was paying, House picked Cuddy's tray back up and placed it in front of her. "You can get out of line now," House told her.

"Thank you," she said startled that she heard him tell Wilson he'd cover it. She couldn't remember the last time he willingly paid for food at the hospital.

She took her tray from where he sat it down and walked around them. She heard their voices close behind her as she was walking to a booth. House was telling him what he was stuck on with a patient that she gave him earlier in the day, after the patient his team had from the day before was sent home. She placed her tray at the nearest booth, and heard as their voices got further away, opting for a spot the furthest away from everyone, which didn't surprise her, but wished they sat closer.

"So," Wilson said in a hushed tone. "What is your plan to win her over?"

"You know, she IS in the room," House said in the same hushed tone that Wilson spoke in.

"Oh she can't hear us."

House surveyed this information and decided he was right. "I don't know. I have to show her I've changed a little. But as far as how to do that I'm-"

"Do Clinic duty."

House smiled and laughed and pointed his finger at him, "oh you! You're funny."

"I'm serious. You want to show her you've changed, act more responsible. Do your work without her having to threaten you to do it."

"I said changed a little, not complete personality makeover. We could have turned into something before Mayfield, when I was a narcissistic ass."

Wilson took a second, thinking over what he said. "Okay, that might be true. But, don't you think that your chances will increase if you do things you should be doing without her having to watch over you to make sure you do it? To make her life a little easier?"

House took a huge bite out of his sandwich he had in front of him and got up from the booth.

"Where are you going?" Wilson asked.

"To make her life easier," House announced, and turned around to leave.

Cuddy saw him limp passed her, and continued to watch him, a little distraught at the fact that he didn't say anything to her in passing. She watched in shock as he left the cafeteria, in the direction of the Clinic.

It had reached the end of the day and Cuddy hadn't seen House or Wilson since lunch. Before going home, she needed to know how Wilson's patient was doing, having already run into Chase, she already knew how House's patient was. Although, she wished she ran into him instead.

She gathered all her things and put them onto her desk so after she went to Wilson's office, she could just come back to grab them and leave.

She left her office and went into the lobby and hit the button to the elevator.

She took a step forward when she saw the number 1 lit up, alerting her that it had reached her floor, and walked forward still looking up, and was startled to see House in the elevator, almost running into him.

He stood there silently for a second and adjusted his backpack strap.

"You leaving?" she asked, knowing it was a stupid and obvious question, and regretted it the second she said it, knowing she'd get a sarcastic answer back.

"Yeah," he said, surprising her as he started walking out, leaving room for her to walk in. "See you tomorrow."

She walked into the elevator, turned around and watched him limp through the lobby towards the doors to leave for the day...


	12. Chapter 12

Wilson drove both he and House to the hospital again the next day. "I don't know why you won't let me drive," House said sulking in the passenger seat.

"It's my car."

"You let me drive it home yesterday. AND I came to pick you up. I proved myself worthy."

"That was only because you got off before I did, and I had to wait three hours before you came."

House looked away from Wilson and out the window to his right. "But I still came. That says something."

"It says you can be a real ass when you want to be. Making a guy wait like that." Wilson was circling his car in the parking lot, looking for a spot closer than his own, thinking of House's leg. "I can't believe you forgot your handicap sign." Wilson said, letting out a breath when circling again.

"Just park in my spot, no one's going to care."

"Get out," Wilson told him when he stopped in front of the hospital.

House looked shocked, "you're kicking a cripple out of the car?"

"I'm kicking a cripple out of my car to save him from feeling pain later. And to also, save me from hearing about how it's my fault."

"Oh," House unbuckled his seatbelt, reached for his cane, and opened the door. "Could have just said so."

House walked into the lobby and hung around the desk to wait for Wilson before going up to their floor.

He saw a file that had his department written on the front in Cuddy's handwriting. He stared with his eyes unfocused at what she wrote, having left it out for him to collect when he came in. "Why did she leave this for me?" he asked the nurse at the desk.

"Cuddy? Because she was busy?" she shrugged. "She looked in a rush, and just set it down saying that it was for you."

He looked back down, but quickly back up when he saw someone coming out of her office. He felt the oxygen knocked out of him when he saw it was Lucas. He started feeling like he was losing.

Lucas caught House's eye and smiled at him, and stopped next to him. "House, what are you doing looming around in the lobby?"

"Are you trying to tell me I can't be in the lobby either? Is it okay to be in my own office, or will I get questioned if I go in there too?" he asked irritated, looking away from the file, to his left to look at him.

"I'm just making conversation."

"Well, I don't want it. Go away now," he commented, looking back at the file that still stayed unopened in front of him.

"Okay, I'm going. I can tell when I'm not wanted," he took a step to leave.

"Do you?" House asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Lucas questioned, staying where he is.

"No reason."

"No...there's always a reason with you."

"Nope. Not this time."

"But, you won't look at me and tell me that because that's a lie."

House turned to face him. "I wasn't looking at you because you're ugly. I just had breakfast and I didn't want to take the risk of it coming back up while looking at your face."

"Well, I don't care if you like my face or not. Cuddy does, and that's really all that matters."

House turned his head to the right and winced. He heard Lucas take a step to leave and House looked down near his feet and stuck his cane out and smiled when he saw Lucas trip over it. He shifted his body to face him who was now on the floor. House watched Lucas get up, trying to save himself from more embarrassment that the shade of his face told House he was experiencing.

"Oops," he told him, looking at him sheepishly.

"Real mature, House," Lucas snapped and walked quickly out of the lobby.

House smirked to himself and continued to wait for Wilson but changed his mind when he saw Cuddy coming out of her office. He turned to head towards the elevator with his file, hoping he would go unnoticed, not wanting to face her just yet, but he was spotted. "House, did you see-" she drifted off, not knowing if she should finish.

"Lucas?"

She sighed, "yeah."

She watched as he stopped his fast pace limping, and positioned himself to face her. "Yeah. I saw him. Just left. If you hurry you might be able to catch him," he said while pointing at the doors with the file and turned to continue heading towards the elevator.

"House," she called out to him sympathetically.

He squeezed his eyes after pressing the button, waiting for the doors to open, not wanting to hear what she had to say. He had a feeling he knew already. He opened his eyes to the sound of the doors separating to let him in. "Sorry. Got a patient I have to save."

He walked into the elevator without turning around, not wanting to see her. He hit the number to his floor behind him with his left hand, having done it so many times he knew where it was, and the doors closed and started taking him up to his floor.

House had managed to go the rest of the day dodging any conversation with Cuddy. She attempted to get him alone a couple of times, but luckily, it was a case that interested him more than expected so used meeting his team for a consult as an excuse and actually didn't mind it.

He knew he was looking cowardly by avoiding her, but, he wasn't ready to face the conversation he knew was coming. Lucas looked way too smug and happy to have gotten any bad news from Cuddy, so as he saw it, he was on the end of that piece of news.

He decided it could wait.

So, he left at 5:00, taking Wilson's car like he did before, and went home.

He saw Cuddy's face, the way she looked when she came up to his office in the afternoon to talk and he got out of there as fast as he could, in his mind. He laid with his eyes closed, and naked in bed while Crystal, his hooker of the evening, who he has had five times before was moaning as she was being guided by his hands on her hips, faster and faster, until they both came to climax.

He started to try and catch his breath, and opened his eyes to see she was doing the same. He kept his eyes on her breasts, watching them rise and fall as she was taking breaths, and felt her guide him out of her and watched as she swung her left leg over and got off his bed to get dressed.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked as he sat up and grabbed his underwear and pants and slipped them on.

"Well, I have to charge you a little extra tonight," she put her shirt on over her head, and he turned around to see her do it, still waiting for an amount. "Because of the foreplay."

He nodded.

"That's usually against our rules but, what can I say? You're one of my favorite clients and you seemed to need the extra push to get going tonight."

"Sorry about that," he said, grabbing onto his thigh and limped to the dresser where he tossed his wallet. "So how much extra for that?"

"Two hundred." He had his wallet open in his hand and looked over at her confused. "It was a lot of foreplay."

He shook his head, "fine." She watched as he took out a his cash and handed it to her. She looked up at him like she had something on her mind. "What?"

"Can I ask, who is Cuddy?"

He looked at her startled. "Why do you ask that?"

"You didn't realize you moaned out her name a couple times?"

He looked down, "no."

"Well?"

"No one."

"Are you sure?"

He looked back up. "Why is it any of your business?"

"I think it's my business if I think I might be losing a frequent client," she snapped.

"You're not."

"You sure?"

"Yes! Now stop asking me that!"

"Alright, alright," she said putting her hands up in surrender and sat at the edge of his bed to grab her heels to put on after sticking the money he gave her inside her bra. "She doesn't like you or something?"

He inhaled and let it out annoyed. "Did you not hear me when I said stop asking?"

"You said to stop asking if you were sure. This is a brand new question."

He scowled at her. "Since when was it okay for hookers to talk to their clients as though they were friends?"

"Since when do hookers use foreplay?" she challenged.

"I didn't ask for it!"

She had her heels on and stood up. "Alright. I'm sorry," she walked passed him and put her left hand on the door and turned to face him again. "Look, it may be none of my business, but, after doing all we did tonight, kissing you and stuff, this Cuddy, doesn't know what she's missing."

House let out a laugh, "we have kissed before."

"Then, pardon me for saying, but she sounds like an idiot. There's no way someone can't fall for you with those big blue eyes, that scruff on your face, and the way you are in bed..if I weren't doing what I do, and she were into you, she'd have competition," she said.

"I'm twice your age."

"So, I have Daddy issues. You're just my type." She smirked at him, which he couldn't help but do the same. She opened the door to let herself out. "See you next time."

He stood there alone thinking over what she just said and decided he wasn't done. He was going to hear Cuddy out. But if she has to tell him what he thinks she's going to, he wasn't going to fold that easily. He grabbed his t-shirt and put it on and grabbed his keys to leave.

"Was that Crystal?" Wilson asked as he came from his own room.

"What? How did you get here? And how do you know my hookers?" House asked.

"I called a cab. Figured it would be easier than waiting for you to pick me up. And, we talked one of the times she was here. You had to rush to the hospital and so we were talking while she was getting ready to leave. Did you know she's using the money she's getting to put herself through Med school?" he asked sounding impressed.

"I don't want to know what she's doing with- wait, which-?- no. I don't want to know." He set his cane down and grabbed his jacket to put it on.

"Where are you going?" Wilson asked when he saw him pick his cane back up, pawed at his helmet and opened the door to leave.

"To Cuddy's. We need to talk." House left the apartment and limped quickly to his motorcycle...


	13. Chapter 13

House stopped his motorcycle across the street from Cuddy's house. He thought about the timing of it all, and asked himself the question what kind of sick bastard comes to the home of a woman who he hopes to build a relationship-or, something with, minutes after screwing a hooker? But, he rationalized to himself that he was just coming here to talk.

He surveyed how it looked. He took note of only seeing one car in front of it. He recognized it as hers and didn't see Lucas's car anywhere. Letting out a sigh of relief and slight distress, knowing that there was no out for him to change his mind and go home. He yanked his cane free from the side of his bike, took off his helmet and left it hanging on the right handle and crossed the street to her house.

The closer he got, the clearer things got for him through the window. He saw she sat on her couch reading something with a mug that had a tea bag hanging out of it hovering an inch or so below her mouth. He remembered a moment just like this all too vividly, of another time he came to her place at night. But that time, he walked away.

He wasn't going to do it again.

House let his head drop, inhaled deeply and walked to the front door. He squeezed his eyes shut, giving himself one last chance to walk away. If he were going to leave, this would be the time. Instead, he knocked on the door three times.

He made a face while trying to listen for an indication of her coming to the door, as though he was watching a scary movie and was anticipating something to jump out.

She opened the door and looked shocked at him standing there.

"House."

Something he didn't consider before knocking occurred to him, and felt his heart start racing at the idea. What if Lucas was there and he came here in the same car as she did?

"I should go, you probably have company-"

"No. It's just me. Rachel's asleep. What are you doing here? You are the last person I expected to show up here after you were clearly avoiding me at the hospital today."

"Yeeeaaahhh, you seemed like you wanted to talk so-"

"Come in." She opened the door wide enough for him to walk through and once he did, he waited for her to tell him where to go, standing there and watched her close the door. "You want some coffee?"

"Sure." She led him towards the kitchen, and he took a seat at the dining table that was just outside the room. He looked around, taking in his surroundings when listening to her in the kitchen, making the coffee. He saw her cell phone sitting in the spot of a couple chairs down start vibrating.

He turned to look toward the kitchen and saw that she was still busy in there, unaware of her phone. He took a step closer to it and saw the screen say that it was Lucas calling.

Taking the step backwards back to his chair, he started rethinking what he was actually doing there.

He squeezed his eyes shut and started feeling out of place. He shouldn't have come here. She obviously wasn't going to be breaking up with Lucas any time soon. If she really wanted to be with him, and not Lucas, she would have done it already. He felt he was wasting both of their time.

"I saw how you take your coffee at the hospital, so gave it to you the way you like," she said placing his mug in front of him and taking the seat that her cellphone was next to and set her mug next to it.

He picked up his mug to take a sip and watched as she picked up her cell when seeing there was a missed call and touched the screen to see the number. "Who was it?" he asked to test her.

"Oh, it was..no one," she placed her cell down and smiled at him when picking up her mug.

He knew he had no chance. He wasn't even sure how badly he wanted it anymore after seeing how easily she just lied to him like she did.

He was guilty of lying from time to time also. But, this seemed different.

He looked down, knowing what he had to do.

"So, are you ready to hear what I have to tell you now?" she asked putting her mug down.

He inhaled through his nose and twisted his mouth in thought. "No. I'm not."

"But...you said you came here because it seemed like I wanted to talk," she stated confused.

"I know what I said," he stated looking back up. "But, things changed."

"Within the last few minutes?"

"I have something I want to tell you." He hesitated, and saw her eyes wide with interest, and wondered if he was making the right decision or not. He took another breath and thought of how long it might take for HER to make a decision if he didn't say anything, and decided it was right.

"I know I told you, you have to choose one of us; either me or Lucas," he paused and saw she shifted awkwardly. "But, you haven't yet." She furrowed her brows, not speaking, not knowing where he was going. "I'm out." He stood up and grabbed his cane that was at his left, leaning up against the table and walked out of the dining area without another word and headed toward the front door, Cuddy following behind him.

"House, what are you talking about?"

He turned, hearing the sound of panic in her voice and saw her expression went along with it when he looked at her. "If you haven't done it yet, you don't want to. And that...tells me my answer. You just weren't saying it. So, I did for you. You chose him." He gave her a closed-mouth half smile. "Go call Lucas back. He's probably waiting to come over." She watched as he turned around, and limped down her path to go to his motorcycle.

She wanted to go run after him. To tell him he had it wrong. That she wants to choose him. But, she couldn't get herself to speak; and couldn't get herself to move. Instead, she stayed in her doorway, watching as he put his helmet on, clasped his cane back onto the side and rode away without another look at her.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling the tear that was blurring her vision in her left eye drop, feeling more alone than she had in months...


	14. Chapter 14

House came limping into the hospital slowly while holding his head with his left hand at noon the next day, with sunglasses on.

"Oh my God! There you are!" Wilson called out, walking up to him sounding angry and relieved at the same time. "Why didn't you ever come home, last night?"

"Keep it down," House moaned, rubbing his temple, taking the glasses off to better show his irritation and slipped them in his jacket pocket. "Do you really want this hospital to think there's more to me living with you because I need a babysitter? 'Cause you wondering why I never came home, and shouting it out like that will start rumors."

"Well, where were you?" Wilson continued, in a normal tone, now having reached him and started walking with him to the elevator.

"I had a little too much to drink last night at some bar. I got a room at the motel that was close by."

"Well, at least you had enough sense to not ride all the way home on your motorcycle drunk," Wilson announced, looking for the silver lining in the situation.

"Yeah, see? So get off my back," House spat out at him.

The elevator doors that they were standing in front of opened, and they saw Cuddy was inside, looking at both of them awkwardly, and walked out with her arms squeezed to her sides, like she was afraid to touch either one of them.

They waited until she passed, and both stepped into the elevator that she silently vacated for them.

Wilson observed how neither she nor House said one word to each other. "Things didn't go so well last night, I take it?"

"What makes you think that?" House used the end of his cane to hit the button for their floor and road the ride up without speaking.

When they reached their floor House followed Wilson into his office, ignoring his team he saw waiting for him at the table.

Wilson took a seat at his chair, while House took his couch. He slouched down and made himself comfortable.

"So, you want to talk about Cuddy?"

"No."

"You, want to sit in silence?"

"Yes." Wilson nodded his head and opened a file he left on his desk from the day before. "It's like she didn't even care I was waiting for an answer. She just went along like nothing ever happened." Wilson looked up at House and closed the file.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Do you have a date for the fundraiser yet?"

Wilson saw that got House's attention. He turned his head to look at him with a look of confusion. "Fundraiser?"

"Yeah. We all got sent emails about it a month ago. The hospital needs more money. We mysteriously lost a lot last year due to patients filing lawsuits and winning, against a certain Doctor we have who they felt were being rudely treated by," Wilson stated, seeing if he would get the hint of who he was talking about.

"That doesn't sound like anyone here," House commented, playing innocent.

"Anyway, it's a week from tomorrow, and dates are required."

"'Dates are required.' What does that even mean? No one will want to give to our hospital if the staff doesn't look like they can attract someone of the opposite sex? They sound like a bunch of morons. I just won't go."

"You're one of the speakers. You have to go."

House's expression turned annoyed. "And you're just telling me about this now?"

"You got an email the same time I did!" he screamed, trying to defend himself.

"You know I depend on you to tell me what I need to know. I haven't checked my email in years. And Cameron used to do it. Now that she's not on my team, and no one I have now will do it, I'm completely dependent on you."

"Fine. Do you have a date?"

"How am I supposed to have one when I'm finding out about this now?"

"Do you know anyone you can ask?"

House saw Cuddy in his mind, but knew she would be going with Lucas. "No."

"Well, find someone."

"What do I have to talk about? What if I'm sick? Am I supposed to show up to this thing regardless and infect a room full of people because some of them want to hear me speak?"

"You're not going to get sick."

"How do you know?" House challenged. "Can you see the future now?"

"No. And don't get any ideas either," Wilson pointed his finger at him as though he were talking to a child.

"What ideas?"

"You'll figure out a way to trick your body into being sick. Willing it somehow just to get out of this. Don't."

"Who suggested I be one of them anyway? I know it wasn't me." House went on, ignoring what Wilson just told him.

"Actually..." Wilson started, "it was Cuddy."

House looked straight ahead and scowled. Why would she do that to him? She knows he hates speeches. "Why me? If this is a fundraiser because of all the money I cost this hospital-"

"I thought you didn't know who was to blame."

"Oh, shut up, we both know it's me. Then why of all the Doctors, should I be subjected to speak?"

"She thinks if you can convince everyone in the room that your methods work in solving patient's cases, that you are needed in this hospital. So, they will give, and so we can keep you."

House's expression turned serious. "Getting rid of me is something they are thinking about?"

"Maybe. And, I know you've dodged it before, almost taking me down with you. But, you may not be so lucky this time." Wilson looked concerned and that scared House.

"I need to find a date," he said out loud to himself, standing up and limped to the door.

"And write a good speech," Wilson called out to him before he left.

House looked at him irritated and left...


	15. Chapter 15

House walked in with his date Jennifer, who Thirteen set him up with. "She's great, you'll like her. She has nice breasts."

That last statement sold him. When he went to go pick her up, he was pleased to find out that Thirteen wasn't lying to him about that.

She didn't even mind the cane either. She asked him what happened but when he said "it fell asleep on my way over to get you," as his answer, she laughed and dropped it.

As they walked through the doors to enter the hall that the fundraiser was being held, she slipped her arm through his left. "Are you ready for your speech?" she asked as they walked through groups of people to get to their table where Wilson said there will be a piece of paper that says his name and one with nothing for his date.

"I'm ready. I'm not sure if anyone will like it. But, I'm ready."

She laughed again. "Remy told me you were different."

"Remy?" he turned his head and shot her a confused glance.

"Your employee," she stated slowly.

"Oh, Thirteen," he saw Wilson waving to get his attention from their table to guide them to it.

"Thirteen?"

"Never mind, come on," she looked in the direction he was leading and stayed in step with him. He knew she was walking slower on his behalf, but, he didn't mind it so much. He was actually surprised that he seemed to be having a good time with her so far.

He made a mental note of having Thirteen find him dates for everything from now on.

"Who are you with?" House asked Wilson when they reached the table, looking around at the names and saw that they lucked out with a table of their own.

"Sam. She's in the bathroom right now." House rolled his eyes but didn't say a word. "Hi, I'm James Wilson," he said extending his arm out to shake Jennifer's hand.

She stuck out her left arm, the one that wasn't linked with House's. "I'm Jennifer. A friend of Remy Hadley's," she said with a smile.

"Oh, Thirteen," he let go of her hand with a smile.

"You knew that?" House asked in confusion.

"You didn't?" Wilson mirrored his expression. Jennifer laughed at their exchange.

"Who is that with House?" Lucas asked Cuddy who had her back to him the whole time, and didn't even know he arrived yet.

She shifted in her seat and was shocked to catch him smiling. She saw the tall, slender woman with long flowing brown hair, eyes so blue and piercing, it looked like they matched with his, and breasts that looked like they would pop out of her slimming black dress if you hit her from anywhere by accident, and Cuddy noticed that she had her arm locked with his, even as they sat down.

Then there was how he looked. Dressed in a suit and tie, he was barely recognizable. The only thing that resembled the House she saw everyday was his decision to not shave. He opted for a black cane that matched his black suit.

He looked nice.

She felt hurt all over again that she couldn't stop him that night he came over, which was a week ago now, and say what she was thinking. To tell him she wanted to be with him. If she did, she could have been the one hanging onto his arm instead of the woman he was with.

She hoped it wasn't showing how awkward she felt. She wasn't expecting him to come with anyone that looked like that, and wanted to know who she was herself. "I don't know," she said, and shifted around but heard a laugh from their direction. It had to be hers, and Cuddy couldn't fight the urge to go over there.

"Excuse me for a second, I'm going to go say hi to Wilson," Cuddy told Lucas, taking a sip of her wine that she had in front of her and quietly thanked the fact that Wilson was there already to be used as her excuse and walked over to their table which was four away from her own.

"Hey," Cuddy said coming from behind House, looking at Wilson, and only Wilson.

"Hi, Cuddy. What do you need?" Wilson asked.

"I, just wanted to make sure that you remembered that you are speaking second, after I am," Cuddy told him.

"Right, I remember."

"You didn't tell me you had to give a speech also," House said to Wilson then shifted himself to look at Cuddy, which she wasn't expecting. "Why do you need me, if you have Wilson?" he whined.

"House, we went over this," Wilson snapped sternly. House scowled at him.

"You can't back out of it! I wanna hear what you say!" Jennifer told House, gripping even tighter onto his arm, which made him shift back to the way he was sitting before Cuddy arrived.

Cuddy suddenly felt very out of place and it was obvious to both Wilson who never took his eyes off of her and House who glanced from Jennifer to Cuddy to tell her he's still in.

"Well, I should get back to Lucas," she stated.

House grabbed his glass of wine that sat in front of him and drank all of it when she started to walk away. "I'll be right back," he told them both. "Gotta get more wine," he smirked.

When House sat down, he saw a guy walk to the stage where the microphone and podium was, who he recognized from a picture he saw when coming in as the "host" of the evening.

House made himself comfortable in his seat and listened as he introduced Cuddy.

He watched as she walked up to the stage, smiled to the host while shaking his hand, and turned to face the audience.

She saw all eyes on her. She thought that would make her nervous. She was worried about it all day. However, the thing she saw that made her nervous in a completely different way, was seeing House's date lean into him saying something, and watched as he took his eyes off Cuddy and onto his date nodding in agreement in whatever she said.

Cuddy feared whatever was said was about her...


	16. Chapter 16

Cuddy saw House's expression, urging her to speak. She was so worried about what may have been said to him, she forgot she was on stage.

"Hi, uh, sorry. My name is Dr. Lisa Cuddy," she started with a smile. "I'm the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, as some of you already know." She looked down at Wilson and House's table and saw that she had both their attention, and over at Lucas who was smiled up at her as he was listening. "Tonight you will be hearing from two of our Department heads, a Dr. James Wilson of Oncology, and Dr. Gregory House of Diagnostics," House noticed the twinkle in her eye after saying his name, and wondered if he was the only one who saw it. Wilson shot him a raised eyebrow, shocked glance that told him he wasn't.

"Hopefully, they will both win you over and help you better understand why they are so vital to this hospital. They both make the days go easy for me, knowing that we will get lots of patients to see them," she was lying for House. The last thing he ever did for her was make her days easy. He started thinking about his own speech he had prepared and felt a little guilty.

"There were times when other hospitals wanted them for their own, and I was thankful that they stayed where they are," he thought now, she was pushing it a little. "So, why don't we start with one of them now, here is, Dr. James Wilson."

Cuddy moved to the side of the podium, making room for him to stand in front of it while the audience clapped for her, and for Wilson coming up. Jennifer leaned into House, "please tell me your speech is longer than that was."

"It is," he answered.

"Hi, as Dr. Cuddy said, I am Dr. Wilson. I've been head of Oncology for a while now, and, I enjoy it. It takes its toll on me, when I lose a patient. That is hard on anyone in whatever Department you are in. But, for me, when I help put a patient into remission..that's the greatest feeling in the world. To look into the eyes of someone who had no hope, and then give it to them-" House looked around the room, starting to tune Wilson out. He's heard him give this kind of speech to him countless times in the comfort of one of their offices. It was nothing new to him.

He analyzed the faces of people surrounding him. First Sam, who was sitting in the chair next to the one Wilson was sitting in. She looked happy; she looked like she cared about him, and what he was saying. That bored him, so started looking at the other people in the room.

Some were smiling while listening to what was being said, while others looked serious. Taking every word in and dissecting its meaning. As if trying to decide if Wilson was also worthy enough to keep around. What was Princeton trying to do? Clean house? Or was it to get rid of anything or anyone that would keep him from leaving? If he goes, then people who care about him are also at risk? That if he had any of his people there, they think that he would put up more of a fight to stay?

He looked over at Cuddy, who was also listening intently to what was being said. If they are getting rid of people who care about him, she would be safe, he thought to himself. He scowled at Lucas and turned away when he saw Lucas had spotted him and rubbed the exposed part of Cuddy's back and she let him.

"House, you're up," he heard Wilson tell him, when he sat back at their table.

"Oh, you're finished?" he asked startled, and grabbed his cane and double-checked his pocket to make sure his speech was in there before walking up.

"Good to know you were listening," Wilson commented with a sigh.

House awkwardly limped up the steps to get to the stage, and when he got to the podium he grabbed the microphone and pulled it up higher, and scanned the room of people. He hung his cane at the edge of the podium and took out his speech, and launched right in.

"I'm Dr. Gregory House. From my understanding by how this evening was explained to me by the man-boy you just heard from, because he looks like a boy, if none of you got that. Is we are here because of me. I've heard I've cost this hospital quite a bit of money which is why I'm forced now to speak in front of all you morons tonight. To see if I'm a good enough Doctor to keep around."

"I am," he scanned the room again and looked back down. "What you may have overlooked, is how much money I have brought IN to the hospital. I have cured more than I have pissed off. But, I get it. You may not have thought of it that way. My own team calls me names like 'manipulative bastard,' and I welcome it. Because I am. I choose to not get close to my patients because it helps me figure out what's wrong with them without getting all weepy about it, and lose my perspective on things. Some people may think I'm a bastard for that. Along with choosing to be manipulative. Because sometimes the patients are stupid and don't want to consent to do procedures that I know will help them. So I have to manipulate them to get things done."

He looked back up for a dramatic effect, "to save their lives," he shifted his eyes back down. "If you don't like it, if you are mad or think that my way of doing things will cost you more in the end then fine. I'm not going to grovel. I'm not going to beg that you keep me. Because I don't need you. I can take my skills to another hospital and open a brand new Diagnostician Department there. And I'm sure that they will gladly take my services because they will see that patients come to THIS hospital to see ME, and that's what hospitals SHOULD look at. How many patients are brought in because of the word of mouth, or the skills that their staff of Doctors have. Not how many gets sent home angry. It's that they are ALIVE. If after all these years I've been at Princeton-Plainsboro, you still don't see it that way, then maybe I shouldn't be here anymore. I'll leave voluntarily if you want. But, I'm sure not going to waste anymore of my time talking to you idiots."

Without another word of parting, he tossed his speech on the podium and left it there, removed his cane from where it hung, and went down the steps. He walked passed his table, pointing to the hall entrance and mumbled "bathroom" to Jennifer who nodded and stayed sitting.

The host went back up to the stage stumbling over what to say next, while Cuddy exchanged glances with Wilson, neither of them not knowing that he was going to do that.

She got out of her chair and rushed over to catch him when she saw him leave the room.

Cuddy reached him as he was pawing for the door to the mens room and grabbed his right arm and swung him around to face her, then let go. "What the hell were you thinking? You could get fired!"

He raised his eyebrows which widened his eyes and dropped them back down. "That was the point of tonight, wasn't it? For all those brain-dead suits to decide if they want to or not? Oh no, I'm sorry not ALL of them. No, some of them are in there to decide if they want to fund the hospital some money...which I guess kind of helped them too. They will be more inclined to do so, if they know I'm gone, right? And I'm not going to get fired. I'm going to quit. That's different then getting fired."

Cuddy shook her head in disbelief. "So that's it? You're just going to walk out of here and the hospital and do what?"

He furrowed his brows in thought. "I thought I answered that question. I'll look for another hospital to work at," he stated, leaning closer. "And, I thought you'd be pleased to hear me say that."

"Why?"

"Look at you. You're happy now. You're with Lucas, you did that without me around. And you can't say you need me to stay because I'm the head of the Diagnostics Department because it was running fine when I was in Mayfield. So, I see no downside to me leaving from your end of things. Can I, go to the bathroom now?" he asked, straightening his stance and lifted his left arm to point behind him.

"So you're just going to walk out because you don't like when people judge the way you do things?"

"People always judge me. That's nothing new," he hissed, leaning in again.

"You don't care the about the mess you leave behind if you leave?" she challenged back, leaning closer herself.

"What mess? So someone takes my spot. Big deal. Someone else becomes Wilson's best friend during work hours. Big deal. He'll have someone to keep him busy. And you have a shoulder to cry on if you need to."

"What? And you have your date? You expect that to go somewhere?"

"Maybe! What is it to you if it does? Will it bother you to know that we might screw tonight?"

He scanned her face, when not answering but she didn't have to. Her expression told him everything. She looked devastated.

"Um, you guys?" Lucas said standing in the doorway that divided the main room and the entrance area where House and Cuddy were, feeling unease that their noses looked like they were practically touching from his angle.

He saw that his calling them didn't break them apart, nor their eye contact. "They are asking for you to get back in there, Lisa."

"I'll be right there," she answered Lucas, focusing on House's blue eyes that she watched scanning every inch of her face as though he were studying her.

"Okay," Lucas answered, slowly turning around to go back to his seat.

"You should go," House told her when he caught Lucas leaving in the corner of his eye.

She took a step away from him, causing some distance. "I'm not as happy as you think I am," she said, voice strained. "We haven't even slept together since I knew you were back. I couldn't."

He straightened himself again and watched her walk towards the room. He sighed and looked down at his feet. Had he let go of her too soon? The way she stared at him when he commented about him and Jennifer shocked him. And what she said about her and Lucas he wasn't expecting. He remembered what he came here to do, and walked into the bathroom, replaying the last thing she told him in his head...


	17. Chapter 17

House stayed for the rest of Cuddy's speech, and got Jennifer to stand up so they can leave before any more confrontation with her arose. He felt her eyes on him as he and Jennifer walked out but he never turned to look at her.

He kept telling himself it was better this way.

He would voluntarily leave the hospital to not have to deal with her telling him that she cared, but, not enough to do anything about it every time they saw each other without anyone around.

He wasn't going to come back to the hospital when he got out of Mayfield anyway; he tried to quit then.

He probably should have.

But, he came back. He needed an addiction, and since he was trying to not take Vicodin anymore, he needed the work. He needed the puzzles.

Another hospital will give him the same push.

"Are you okay?" Jennifer asked as he was driving her home.

"Yeah. Fine. Why?" he asked, focused on the road.

"You haven't said anything since we left."

House thought back, trying to find an instance where he did speak, trying to prove her wrong. But, he couldn't think of any.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about things."

"You want to talk about it?" she pressed on. She liked him, and didn't like that he clammed up on her the way he had after she saw the side of him that was so at ease and relaxed.

"No."

She pressed her lips together and sighed, looking at him while driving wondering what happened when he got up to use the bathroom. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable by forcing him to talk, so she quietly looked out the window the rest of the way to her place.

They both looked out at her place when he stopped the car. She unbuckled her seat belt and looked up, her eyes finding his. "If you ever do want to talk, you have my number, okay?"

He gave her a half closed-mouth smile, looking away from her. "Thanks," he answered sincerely. She put her left hand on his shoulder and leaned in and gave him a kiss on his right cheek.

"I had fun," she announced. He watched her open the car door and closed it when she got out. When she got inside he drove away to go home.

He got home and scanned the apartment, seeing that he was alone. Wilson mentioned that they might be going to Sam's place for the night after the fundraiser. He was fine with it then, but, he wasn't too sure anymore.

Knowing that he was the only one there for the night made him feel like he was back in his old apartment. It got lonely there, living alone. He had his instruments to keep busy, but most nights, he turned to scotch or Vicodin to dull the loneliness.

He didn't want to do that tonight. He didn't want to turn to scotch. He examined the big living room floor space that he could have if he moved the coffee table over a little. He set his cane on the couch and positioned himself to push it to the side. He did it.

He grabbed his leg in pain, and reached for the Ibuprofen he had in his jacket suit pocket and took a couple. Next, he went for his backpack that he had with him at the hospital and pulled out his iPod. He stripped his jacket off, loosened his tie and yanked that off as well, and unbuttoned a couple top buttons from his dress shirt. He sat down on the living room floor and took his shoes off, put the ear buds in his ear, hit play and sprawled out on the floor.

House heard a knock on the door an hour later, behind the music he was listening to with his eyes closed, still laying on the floor. "Wilson if that's you, use your key!" he shouted, unmoved. He heard a knock again with a voice say something through the door that he couldn't make out with both ear buds still in. He ripped out his right one and opened his eyes, "what?" he shouted annoyed.

"It's not Wilson! It's me, Cuddy!"

He inhaled slowly and let it out quick, he turned off his iPod, threw it on the couch, and stood up, grabbing his cane. His thigh twinged with an extra pain surge that usually happens when he moves like that and popped in a couple Ibuprofen from the bottle he had close by and opened the door. "What is it, Cuddy?"

She looked him up and down, seeing his clothes messed up along with his hair. "I'm sorry, you have your date here still?" she asked in a stern tone, telling him she was trying to protect herself from how she really felt by sounding angry.

"No," he let his head drop and saw his close rumpled up. "Wrinkled clothes means I have a girl stashed away now?" he snapped, wishing she didn't come over. He didn't remember her dress looking that tight, nor her makeup applied so neatly.

"No. But that and a lipstick mark on your cheek might."

"Oh," he rubbed his cheek, remembering Jennifer giving him a kiss there before she left the car. "That's nothing. What do you want?"

She sensed he was trying to keep his distance from her. She took a step closer to him and instead of taking a step back, he lowered his head to keep eye contact with her. "You're not leaving Princeton-Plainsboro."

"Yes I am."

"I'll give you a raise."

"No."

"You can add another Doctor to your team so you don't have to do as much as you do now," she offered, raising an eyebrow, thinking that will get him.

He looked to his right thoughtful, then back at her. "No."

She bit the bottom right of her lip, thinking. "I'll cut the hours you owe me for the Clinic in half."

"How much would that be?"

"I'll have to figure it out."

"You don't know?" He gave her a piercing stare, leaning his head in closer.

"I don't have the figures with me," she replied, opting against leaning her head back in response to his, to keep their distance closer than it was a second ago.

"When you get them, cut that in half."

"Cut your hours in half, then cut that in half?"

"That's what I said."

"And you'll stay if I do that?"

"Yeah," he shrugged his left shoulder, "but I can't promise there won't be anymore pissed off patients."

"I know that's too much to ask."

"And you're okay with that?" he searched her face with any tell for a lie in how she was about to answer.

"If lawsuits come with you, then yeah, I'm okay with it. I'll have to find a way to fund them," she shrugged.

"You can always fire Adams or Park."

"Why?"

"They don't get my jokes."

"That's not a good enough reason," she widened her eyes and this time, she did the leaning in, causing their lips to almost be touching, but neither of them moved away.

She watched his eyes drop from her eyes down to her mouth. "Fine. I'll keep them. You still with Lucas?"

"Yes."

"You still not as happy as I think?"

"You think that would have changed in the last couple hours?" she kept her eyes on his which were still looking at her mouth.

He shrugged his right shoulder, "anything can happen in a couple hours."

"I'm still not."

"You going to do anything about it?"

He saw the right side of her mouth lift into a smile. "I'm thinking about it."

He inhaled without letting it out, "let me know if you ever do. If I'm still single then, who knows," he said so softly it sent chills down her back. He slid to the right from the position where he was, leaving her feeling weak in the knees.

"I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to head on off to bed now," he motioned to the hallway. "So, if you can, close the door on your way out, that would be great."

"House," she shifted to the left, calling his name to get his attention to stop walking down the hallway. She saw he stopped and put most of his weight on his good leg, using it to swing his stance to face her. She strutted over to him and pulled at the right side of his shirt that hung open, forcing him closer to her and kissed him.

She let go after a couple seconds of a closed mouth kiss and pushed him back to stand straight. "Give me some time to deal with Lucas," she told him while looking into his shocked expression.

She put her left hand on his chest and slid it down to his stomach and removed it and turned to leave, closing the door behind her like asked. House stood where she left him, pressing his lips together and licked them, tasting a little hint of strawberry, the flavor choice of chap stick she had on...


	18. Chapter 18

It was reaching five o'clock and Cuddy was almost ready to leave for the day.

As promised the night before, she worked out how many hours were expected of House to work in the Clinic.

She went up to his office earlier in the day and told him to not worry about it for another couple of days. He was given a hard case, and she wanted him to just focus on that. "But, by next Thursday, I want to see you in that Clinic, working on those hours."

He agreed without a fight. Before leaving she had one more thing she wanted to tell him. The kiss she impulsively gave him before she left his place was still replaying in her mind. It was fast and soft, and hoped it got the point across.

She wanted him to give her more time before he moved on. What he said about if he was still single when she broke up with Lucas scared her. She knew it was all in her control of how quick she wanted to break up with him, but, like with everything, she wanted it to be perfect.

She wanted to know exactly what she was going to say, how to say it, and where she wanted to say it.

When she explained this to him, he narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his desk chair. "Not everything needs to be perfect. You can't control his reaction to the news. Over thinking something like this will just make you crazy. Breaking up is messy, no matter how it happens. So, just let it happen. If you can't, then, maybe you should ask yourself if you really want to do it at all."

She didn't want to admit he was right. She left his office without another word. She couldn't help thinking things over, anticipating any kind of situation and be ready for it.

Until the talk with Lucas happens, she was trying to stay away from House.

What she wasn't expecting was by telling him to not worry about the Clinic, not seeing him in there, either trying to get his way out of being in there or pissing off everyone he came into contact with if he were, made her miss him. She missed seeing him near her office.

Since he didn't need to be down there, he was nowhere to be seen.

Cuddy walked out of her office, into the Clinic to take care of last minute things in there and looked up from leaning against the counter, shuffling through charts of patients that were still waiting. When she did, she saw House.

He was leaning against the counter in the lobby, with his jacket, backpack and helmet with him ready to go, but was reading slips of paper that she knew were used for taking down messages. She watched him go through one by one, moving the top to the bottom once it was read.

Her eye caught Thirteen running in his direction with a file in her hand. House looked up at her, she told him something, and Cuddy saw he tossed the messages on to the counter having lost interest and took a scan out of the file Thirteen gave him and shifted himself toward the Clinic and held up the scan in front of him to use the light to get a better look at what she was showing him.

Cuddy looked down and away, not wanting House to catch her looking, and saw in the corner of her eye, instead of walking out of the lobby, he walked with Thirteen back toward the elevator to stay longer.

When Cuddy got home, she started to get ready to meet Lucas at a restaurant they went to once before. He told her he wanted to talk to her about something. A part of her was hoping he would break up with her to save herself the agony she was putting herself through thinking how to with him.

A half hour later she walked through the doors, seeing him waiting for her at the corner table away from everyone else. A glass of red wine sat at the seat that was waiting for her.

Her thoughts went to House. She knew he never stays at the hospital longer than he has to unless something is really wrong. He shuts the world out when it does. After sending his team to do tests, once they agree on what to do next, he crawls into his own mind, very rarely letting anyone else in.

The only person she had seen him let in, in a situation where he has to start from the beginning with a patient is Wilson. She always envied Wilson for that. She knows he is the soundboard that House throws his ideas at and if at all possible, Wilson throws theories back at him, in hopes it will lead House to an epiphany, which leads to a diagnosis. She always wanted to be there for House in that way. But, Wilson was the only one outside his team that he felt comfortable enough around to throw ideas out to.

Getting closer to the table, all she could wonder was if they were in Wilson's office right now, throwing ideas at each other. Or, if he has blocked everybody out.

Lucas smiled at her as she sat down, and she did back to be polite. She pushed the thought of House aside. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Lucas looked nervous which was rattling Cuddy. Now she wasn't sure what to expect. Thinking back at what House told her earlier, made her think that maybe she was over thinking this. "Actually, I have something I want to talk to you about too." She took hold of the glass of wine and swallowed a big gulp and put it down.

"Can I go first? I've been thinking about this all day," Lucas commented, interrupting.

Cuddy wanted to laugh. He had no idea how long she had been thinking about what she wanted to tell him. She nodded in agreement to let him say his thing first.

He reached over the table and took her hand in his, causing her to look into his eyes. "Lisa, I think we should move in together."...


	19. Chapter 19

"Lisa, you haven't said anything in five minutes," Lucas stated, trying to get her attention, letting go of her hand.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "I can't move in with you," she blurted out.

"Okay, it's too soon, I get that. I thought you might react that way. It's alright. You have Rachel, you're probably thinking about her too. We can talk about it again later then maybe-"

"I'm in love with House."

He exhaled and glanced to his right, away from her. "I guess I can't say I'm shocked." He moved his head back in her direction. "Is that why I've barely seen you since he came back? Why you defend him every time we discuss him?"

"Well, you shoved our relationship in his face on a day that is supposed to be important for him."

"Right, yeah, because he's such an angel," Lucas said, starting to get angry. "You think he wouldn't do the same thing if the roles were reversed? And that wasn't the only time you defended him."

"No. But, that was one of the recent ones. And maybe he would. But, that still doesn't give you the right to-"

"To be a bully. Because only House can be mean to people, is that it?"

"He just went through a very traumatic time in his life! He's trying to stay clean, and I don't want anything to push him back into taking Vicodin! If he does-"

"If he does he'll be back to being the selfish bastard he's always been and step on anyone to get what he wants."

"If he was such a selfish bastard then why were you friends with him?" Cuddy challenged.

"He paid me. Do you see us hanging out now? The guy can't connect. He can't be honest and tell people how he really feels, so he hires people to spy on them-on his best friend. To know if he still matters to him. Instead of going there and talking to him himself."

"You knew the story behind that. Wilson was a mess after he lost Amber."

"But yet, he took your calls, and members of House's team. But not House. If you want to believe he's changed for the better go right ahead. But, if deep down he hasn't, he may end up hurting you too." Lucas scooted his chair out to stand up. "I hope for your sake, you're right about him, and he has changed."

Cuddy closed her eyes and put her left hand to her forehead, resting her elbow on the table. She hoped she was right too.

She left the restaurant and instead of going home, she went back to the hospital. She had paperwork that needed to be done that she was going to leave for the morning, but, she needed the distraction.

Pulling up in her parking spot, she noticed House's motorcycle. She continued thinking of what she was when walking up to Lucas. She got out of her car after parking it, and kept her eye on his bike until she passed it. She bit her lip, feeling nervous about walking into the hospital knowing he was still there.

She kept her head down while opening the lobby door and heard the knock of the bottom of a cane hit the second level floor, hearing the echo from where she stood. They were the only two in the vicinity, and he heard her heels hit onto the floor the same way she heard his cane.

"You're all dressed up, you on a date?"

She raised her head, a couple steps from the lobby door and saw him lean over the railing, his forearms resting on top, his clothes messy, and his face tired.

"I was. It's over now."

He nodded his head and lifted his gaze from her to the picture that was above the entrance. He dropped his head down, letting his fatigue take over his physical strength. "I should get back to my patient." He pushed himself up, using the railing and took a step away.

"House," she called out to him.

He looked back down at her, getting his attention back. She fought internally with herself if she should tell him what happened or not. "How's your patient?"

"I still don't know what's wrong," he lowered his head, clearly upset with himself for having the wrong diagnosis the first time, and still at a loss for what to do next.

"Maybe some sleep will help. If you go home then-"

"Can't." He lifted his head and took another step back. "I'll have to stay here. My teams not happy but, I need to figure out what's wrong," she heard his cane and his voice getting further away, then saw his head poke back over the railing, now a few inches closer to the elevator then where he stood a couple seconds ago. "I'm going to solve this if it kills me." He smirked, and he disappeared from her view. She stayed where she was, hearing the elevator doors open for him and close.

She looked around, taking a second to remember why she came here and walked to her office...


	20. Chapter 20

Cuddy opened the door to House's office the next morning and saw him slumped down in his lounge chair asleep. His legs were stretched out on the ottoman, his clothes even more wrinkled than they were the last time she saw him, and his chin was touching his chest, tilted to the right.

She watched his breathing, debating on whether to wake him up or not.

She decided to do it. She knew he had to wake up eventually and technically, even though she knew he had been here all night, he shouldn't be sleeping at work. She pushed the thought aside that she really just wanted to see his eyes.

"House," she whispered softly as to not startle him awake. It didn't work so she walked closer to him. She put her right hand on his right shoulder and cautiously nudged him. "House," she repeated.

He inhaled and jerked his head, "what are the results?" he opened his eyes and looked at her with what she imagined are his bedroom eyes, having just woke up, and it sent a chill down her back. "Oh, Cuddy," he put his hands on the armrests and pushed himself up in straighter sitting position, using them for help. "I thought you'd be Thirteen. She told me she'd come back with the lab results."

Cuddy watched him sympathetically, having swung his left foot to his left to take off the ottoman but, grabbed his right leg to guide it off. "Do you still not know what's wrong?"

"I have a theory," he answered. He gently placed his right foot on the floor and grabbed his cane. He walked over to his desk and was about to sit in his desk chair when Thirteen caught his eye. "Anything?"

She was trying to hide her smile to give him suspense but, it didn't work out. "You should come look for yourself," she lingered to see he took a rushed step to the door, anxious to see what was discovered when he stopped where Cuddy stood and looked at her.

He saw that she looked at his doorway, where Thirteen just walked through like she was thinking about something when she did. "What is it?" he asked her.

"You stayed here all night, but, Thirteen looks well rested," she turned her head and looked at him. "Did you send your team home?"

He shrugged, "why not? They need their rest if they are going to be here all day to take over what I need to do today when I get tired. And, I needed the distraction. Right now, a patient seems like a good one. Unless," he stared at her intently, "you have something to tell me that would work better."

She knew what he was referring to. "No, I don't," she lied.

He nodded and shifted his head to look at the doorway, "then, why did you come up here?"

"Just, looking for an update," she lied again.

"Well, I'll let you know when I have one." He left his office, trailing Thirteen to the lab where the rest of his team waited for him.

Cuddy took the elevator back down to her office after paying a short visit to Wilson before leaving the floor. She knew she should have told him, but something told her to wait. He was too preoccupied with his case, and she didn't want to disturb his focus.

There was plenty of time after.

She opened the door to her office and saw that she had a visitor on her couch. "Lucas," she stated nervously. "What are you doing here?" she walked around her desk and sat in her chair.

"I came here because I wanted to make sure that what you felt...how you told me you feel, is real. And not just because I freaked you out about moving in with me."

She sighed and pushed a strand of her hair that fell on her left cheek away, "it is really how I feel."

"You know he will hurt you."

"You don't know that."

"You should know that."

"Are you here to lecture me?"

"No," I just...I want you to know the risks."

"Lucas," she was starting to get irritated with him and just wanted him out of her office. "You warned me about all this already. My feelings haven't changed about House. I'm sorry with the timing of it all. I didn't expect to feel this way, but, with him back, and doing so well...I can't help it."

He put his hands up in surrender and stood up to walk out. "Okay, alright, I'm done trying to talk you out of your choice." He put his right hand on the doorknob to open the door and turned back to her. "You should probably tell him though," he pointed in the direction of the lobby. "I think someone else has called dibs." He smiled at her sympathetically and walked out, having Cuddy trailing behind him, not to catch up with him, but to see what he was talking about.

She reached the first set of doors and was close enough to see without opening them. He was in the lobby near the entrance of the Clinic, his back to her, and with him was a woman who she recognized as his date from the fundraiser. Cuddy could see her face, and she was looking up at House smiling at him, and put her right hand on his right upper arm.

Lucas walked out one of the doors of the Clinic, passing House, which with House's head turning, Cuddy knew he caught his attention. She watched House swivel around to look in the direction of Cuddy's office and she tried to rush out of his view before he turned all the way around, but she was too late. She saw House watch her wipe away a tear and went back to her desk...


	21. Chapter 21

Cuddy sat at her desk when she heard someone open her door. She saw House limp into her office and closed the door behind him without having to look up. "What is going on?" House asked her, ignoring the fact that it looked like she was trying to ignore him, and leaned back after taking a seat on her couch. "Is this about Lucas? Did you guys have a fight?"

Cuddy scoffed and looked over at him and he saw a tear escaped her right eye that she brushed away with her hand. "Of course you would think that someone else is at fault."

House sat up, staring her down angrily at the accusation. "Did I miss something?"

He watched as her expression morphed from sad to angry, matching the expression he was showing her. "Did you miss something? You really want to go there with me? How can you say that you'll wait for me one minute, and then flaunt yourself and some woman in the lobby the next?"

"That's what this is about? You're crying over some woman talking to me? She was asking me to do her a favor because she did one for me," House stood up, and hovered over her desk, leaning on his cane. "And I didn't know I wasn't allowed to talk to people of the opposite sex now. Should I fire Thirteen, or, does she not count because she doesn't only sleep with men?"

"Oh don't be so dramatic-"

"Me, dramatic?" House's voice raised. "You're the one who's mad at me for no reason-"

"I told you my reason!"

"Well its a crappy one! You don't own me, you're still with Lucas! So why does it matter who I talk to or-"

"I'm not with Lucas," Cuddy snapped, looking down at her desk, regretting telling him that way the second she did. She imagined going into his office, sitting down across from him, and telling him there. She had no intention of telling him while they were yelling at each other.

"What?" House asked, in disbelief, "when did this change?"

"It doesn't matter when it changed what matters is-"

"I think it does!" he scoffed, "I told you to tell me when things changed between you two, and you didn't, which means, you don't want anything to do with me other than being my boss, which means you really have no right to be upset about me talking to anyone else!"

"What was the favor?"

"What?" he asked irritated.

"What was the favor that she asked you to do?" Cuddy asked firmly.

"Why does that matter?"

"I want to know!"

House scoffed again and looked away from her, shaking his head, then back at her, "fine, she asked me to be her date at a wedding she has to go to next month."

"And you're going?"

House threw his left arm out to the side of him, "I don't see any reason why I shouldn't. Nothing's holding me back is there?" he lowered his arm and glared at her, as she mirrored his expression back at him.

"No."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, "you sure about that?"

"Do what you want, House."

"See, you say that, but then if I do, you'll somehow hold it against me. So, what you're really telling me is if I want to screw things up with you, and ruin any chance I would ever have to be with you, then I should definitely go on this date. But, if I want to not screw it up, then, I should say that I won't go."

Cuddy raised her right eyebrow, "so which is it?"

He scowled at her and pointed his left pointer finger at her, "you're good, you're reeeaalllyy good, Lisa Cuddy," he shook his head and turned around to leave.

"So?" Cuddy called out after him.

"I'm not going," he turned back around to face her, "busy next week?"

"Next week?"

"What? You seem surprised. You obviously weren't going to tell me about Lucas anytime soon, and so I'm guessing you may have in a week, so that gives you that much time to get ready to try and see if this could be anything more than what this is...although, I will admit, I'll miss those low-cut tops of yours.." he drifted into thought.

"You're thinking that if we start dating I'm going to change my entire wardrobe?"

He inhaled before answering, "no, but if we do this, I'll require you wearing nothing at all."

She smiled at him, "are we really doing this? In a week?"

"Yeah, unless, you can think of any reason why we shouldn't. I'm guessing I'll be done with my patient by then."

She watched House exit her office and smiled to herself, hoping the rest of the week goes by smoothly for them and nothing happens to get in their way between now and then...


	22. Chapter 22

"So, I'm going out with Cuddy tonight," House casually told Wilson who was sitting across from him in their booth at lunch, who was now choking on his sandwich he took a bite out of a second ago.

Wilson grabbed his soda and took a couple gulps to help wash down the food that went down the wrong way with House's news. "Are you screwing with me?"

"Does it look like I am?"

Wilson narrowed his eyes on House, "it's getting harder and harder to tell with you."

"Then, guess I'm not then."

Wilson tossed his sandwich on his plate, having lost interest in it, wanting to know more about the date that House was talking about. House scooped up the abandoned sandwich and took a bite out of it. "Have you thought about where you are going to take her?"

House twisted his mouth as though in thought, "there's this new McDonald's that opened up, should be-"

"No."

House's eyes shifted up from the sandwich, "I wasn't serious. I made a reservation somewhere."

Wilson beamed, proud of his friend, "where?"

House scoffed, "like I'm going to tell you. You'll come and crash it," his attention was pulled away when he heard Cuddy's laugh coming from the entrance of the cafeteria, and saw she walked in with Chase, who spotted House and made his way over to his booth. House kept his eye on Cuddy who saw him after Chase did and smiled at him when she fell in line for her lunch. He kept looking at her until Chase reached him and stood up when he saw Chase had a scan for him to look at. House tossed the sandwich on his plate the same way Wilson did earlier and lifted the scan to the light to see what he was looking at. He saw a small tumor that they miss previously on their patient. "Dammit," he sighed and looked down at Wilson, "come to my office when you're done Wilson, we need you."

House headed out of the cafeteria to go with Chase to his office to meet up with his team and watched Cuddy in the corner of his eye until he couldn't see her anymore.

House spent the rest of the day up on his floor going between his office, the lab, Wilson's office and when forced to by his team, his patient's room. When the end of the day came, and he exited the elevator that took him down to the lobby, he saw Cuddy hovering over the counter in the center. It was the first time he had seen her since lunch. He took a deep breath, and limped over to her right and pawed at the messages he saw were waiting for him.

"Will you be ready by 8?" he asked launching into what needed to be said, completely avoiding small talk pleasantries.

"Yeah, 8 is good," she answered, smiling up at him who was looking down at the slips of paper in his hand, but nodded as a response.

"I was thinking-"

House was interrupted by the new nurse from the Clinic who walked around Cuddy and got in between them, "you forgot this, House," she said with a smile, handing him his paper airplane that he left there in the morning and touched his shoulder.

"I left it behind because I don't need it anymore. There's a hospital full of paper that I can make another one with if I need it, but, thanks," he studied her from behind when she left him with a smile and walked back to the Clinic.

"What was that about?" Cuddy asked House suspiciously, watching him watch her walk away.

"I don't know," he looked back down at his messages and continued to go through them.

"Is there something going on between you two? Are you going through every woman in this hospital now?"

"Are you jealous?" House questioned, staring deep into her eyes, looking for an honest answer in them, despite how she was about to answer.

"No," she lied, and she knew he knew it.

He tossed his messages in the trash can behind the counter, deciding he wasn't going to respond to any of them, so reading them was pointless. "It's the normal human reaction," he started, not looking at her, but outside through the lobby door, watching people go in and out. "People tend to want what they can't have. When someone is free and single, no one cares. But, when they find out a certain person is planning on going out on a date with another certain person because they happen to work in a building with a loud mouth like Wilson, that first certain person appears much more interesting to them. It's a challenge to try and steal that person away," he turned to look at her, "so that's what I think that was all about. I'm not going through everyone here," he looked down at the airplane that was giving back to him and picked it up off the counter.

"So is that all you were doing with me? Because I was with Lucas, I was a challenge to you?" she asked, raising her left eyebrow at him.

"Those challenges are far too simple for me. I need to be stimulated more than that," he took a step away from her and walked around the counter to leave for the day.

"This is real then?" she called out to him, but watched as he kept walking, never turning around, and never calling out an answer over his shoulder. He left for the day, leaving her to think whatever she wanted to about their situation...


	23. Chapter 23

House pulled up and parked his car in front of Cuddy's house at 7:50. He looked out the passenger window and saw that she must have been in either the kitchen or living room, seeing that both lights were on. He sighed and took his key out of the ignition, grabbed his cane that he threw in the backseat and got out of his car and limped up her path to reach her door.

He lifted his cane and knocked on her door with the hook end three times and waited when he heard a pair of heels from the other side sounding as if they were getting closer to the door to open it. When she did she saw he stood there, cane still in his hand and held in the position from the way he was knocking, and his head was lowered like he was looking at the ground but slowly looked up at her with his eyes. When they reached her eyes, she could see from his expression that he was stunned with how she looked.

She ditched her usual skirt and low top attire that he sees her in every day and opted for a slim fitting black dress that barely covered her thighs, and dipped down low. She smiled pleased with herself that she picked out this dress to get his attention and by the blatant stare at her chest, she had succeeded. She didn't want to admit to herself that the women who have been showing him attention lately bothered her, but, deep down it did. So, she tried to top them all with what she chose to wear.

"You ready?" he asked, forcing himself to keep looking into her eyes and not at what he wanted to be looking at, her chest that was popping out at him.

"Yeah," she answered. He nodded and he watched as she turned her head to look inside the house, "hey Julia, I'm leaving now!"

"Okay, have fun! Don't worry, Rachel will be fine!" her sister shouted back from the living room.

House stepped to the side, giving her room to step out and lock the door behind her. She saw he put his arm behind her as to guide her to the car, but, he never touched her, leaving a part of her to wish he had.

They walked side by side to his car, and he opened the door for her when they reached it. She was surprised by this side of him. She knew it had to be there, deep down inside of him, but never imagined she would ever see it.

She watched him after he closed her door and limped around the front of the car to get to his side. He hadn't shaved, although, she hadn't expected him to. But his clothes were different from the ones he wore at the hospital. They were clothes she had never seen him wear before, although, nothing out of the ordinary for him, but, she couldn't help but think they were new. He also looked as though he showered before getting her. He was already blowing her away with the little things and the date had barely started. She felt excited by the idea of not knowing what to expect from him.

He opened his door and casually sat down, guiding his right leg in, and looked towards the backseat to place his cane there. She thought about how uncomfortable it looked for him to get into the car, and started feeling bad for all those times she had tried to get him off Vicodin. She told herself during those times that she was doing it because she cared, but, what she didn't think about was how badly he actually did need it. He put his key in the ignition and reached down inside his jacket pocket for a small bottle of Ibuprofen he had with him and popped a couple in his mouth before starting the car. Cuddy watched him, hoping that was enough for his pain.

She wanted to ask him where they were going since he hadn't yet given up that information but decided against it. She sat back in her seat and looked out the window, letting it stay a surprise. "How is your patient?" she asked, feeling like she should say something.

He made a right turn and she saw that it looked like they were headed in the direction of the hospital. "Fine, Wilson's taking over for a while."

She furrowed her brow and looked at him, "well that's not fine. That usually means that they have cancer."

"Usually, but, I'm here, he's there, there is a tumor involved, but, it's pretty small. He's going to keep me updated."

She looked back out the window and saw the hospital, "House, are we going to-?"

"You like the cafeteria food right?" he smirked at her, "relax, we're not going to the hospital." She watched as they passed it and her curiosity grew, thinking of what was around them.

Then she saw where he pulled into and her breath caught in her throat, having no idea this is where they would end up. It was a new Italian restaurant that she had been telling Lucas she wanted to go to while they were walking out of the lobby of the hospital. She didn't know House was close by listening, or that he heard Lucas say he wasn't into it, and suggested somewhere else instead. But, for his benefit, she played dumb.

"I've been dying to go to this place!" she told him, not being able to hold in her excitement.

"I know."

He parked the car and they both got out and walked side by side again over to the front door. Cuddy slipped her right arm through House's left, which she could tell surprised him. She smiled at him when he turned to look at her after she did that, and he let out a small smile back. He used his right hand, still holding the cane to open the door for them both. She didn't wanting to break the link with their arms, but had to with one of them having to walk in before the other but Cuddy relinked them once they got inside.

It was just as beautiful as she imagined the place to be. She smiled again, feeling happy that Lucas never took her here. Although she was mad at the time, she felt it perfect to go in with House. She couldn't have imagined a better place for them to go.

"Table for two?" the waitress asked, already having menus in her hand.

"Yeah, I made a reservation under House," he answered, then looked at Cuddy, "I wanted to make sure we got a table," and he looked straight to see where the waitress would lead them. Cuddy smiled at House, although he wasn't looking but the waitress saw and smiled at them both and led them to a booth that was in the corner, away from all the noise of other tables.

They were handed their menus, and when asked what they would like to drink, House ordered some wine for the table and the waitress left them alone, off to get their bottle.

Cuddy studied House above her menu that she held up to her, after she saw him hold his up and took note that he looked nervous. She started wondering if the dates he'd gone on in the past if he was as nervous as he looked now, or if it was because this seemed like a long time coming for them and put added pressure on him. She didn't blame him if that were the case, she felt nervous as well, but, it wasn't something she expected from him. She half thought that he'd joke with the waitress and launch into inappropriate comments like he does at the hospital, but he wasn't. This was the opposite of what she expected from him, but, it was nice. She liked it.

She glanced at her menu, realizing she'd been staring at him instead, and looked up as fast as she looked down with the sound of House's phone ringing.

She watched him set his menu down and reached for his phone, "sorry," he told her and looked at the screen, "it's Wilson." She nodded, and motioned for him to take it. "What's going on?" he asked into the phone. Cuddy watched his reaction to what was being told to him. He looked up towards the ceiling, opened his mouth enough to stick his tongue out, and bit down on it. She found herself focused on his tongue and watched him slip it back in his mouth, "no, it can't be that. What other theories do you have?" He twisted his mouth, listening, "no, that doesn't work either, her temperature isn't high enough," the waitress came by with their bottle and Cuddy whispered they need more time, and House saw it. "Wilson be me. Get my whole team with you and throw some ideas around, I'll call you later and see what you have, okay?" He hung up and put his phone on silent then slipped it back into his pocket.

"What's wrong with your patient?"

"No."

"No, what?"

He looked up at her, "if you wanted to just talk patient talk, we could have just stayed in the hospital to do that," he looked down at the menu, "so you can ask me that question tomorrow."

She smiled at his answer, and because he seemed much more relaxed after that conversation then when they first got here. So, she looked down at her menu as well.

The rest of the date went by fast. They ate, they drank their wine, and they made jokes with one another, mostly him, but she enjoyed them all. Before long the place was closing up and they had to leave.

House drove back to her place to drop her off and he got out of the car to walk her up after she insisted he didn't have to. "Are you saying a cripple can't walk a girl to her door? That's a little demeaning, don't you think?" She let out a laugh and didn't say another word as he walked out and followed her at her right to her front door.

"This is where I'm supposed to say good night to you isn't it?" House asked her, as they stood in front of her door facing each other.

"Yeah, it is," she answered with a small smile.

"It wasn't too bad was it? Can you do me a favor and tell that nurse in the Clinic because I'm taking her out next week and-" she scowled at him. "I'm kidding! C'mon how was I not suppose to work that in somehow?" He watched as her facial expression eased and he locked eyes with her, slowly bending down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her thoughts went back to her dream she had that started these feeling about House to surface since he came back and wondered if it would end up the same way. To her disappointment, it didn't. She felt his lips lift off hers and she opened her eyes and saw he was looking back at her. "Good night, Cuddy," he said softly and stepped away, heading back to his car.

"Good night," she called out to him, and stayed outside watching him until he got into his car and drove away...


	24. Chapter 24

Cuddy was in the Clinic and saw House walk into the lobby stopping at the desk to grab his messages. She smiled even though he wasn't looking at her and saw he tossed the slips in the trash can behind the counter and started limping slowly to the elevator showing no signs of rushing to his office to start the day. She left the files she had in front of her on the counter and left the Clinic and walked quickly into the lobby to get to him.

"Good morning, House," she said cheerfully.

"It's morning?" he looked at his wristwatch and saw it read 9:45. "Damn, I'm early," he lowered his arm and looked at her, "good morning," he gave her a soft smile, showing the new dating side of him that she saw the night before.

"So how's your patient?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," he answered, hitting the button for the elevator with the end of his cane.

"Don't you still live with Wilson? Surely you must have-"

"We don't talk our patients at home...usually...sometimes...this time we didn't. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" House asked, changing the subject and stepped into the elevator when the doors opened, with Cuddy following him in. She stood to his left, and felt House looking at her but she kept her eyes on the lit numbers.

"No, that isn't the only thing. Christmas is coming up-"

He looked away from her, opting to look at the numbers also. "Yes, I've been seeing all the fat guys around who have brushed the potato chip crumbs off their faces, who have struggled to get off their couches, who dressed in red to have little kids worship them, and hearing their promises of cookies as a reward for breaking into their homes while everyone is asleep as long as they hold up their end of leaving a toy of choice behind. Thanks for the heads up, but, I already knew."

Cuddy looked at him with a smile. "That's not what I meant by telling you that," she commented, still smiling.

She watched as he looked back at her with confusion. "Then why did you tell me?" He kept his eye on her as the elevator continued to travel up to his floor and she knew she was running out of time with him. "I'm having a Christmas party and I wanted to know if you want to come by. It'll be small, with just my neighbors attending. It's this thing that they do every year. One of them holds it at their house, and it carries on to someone else's house. I've never joined in because I was always busy here, but now since I have Rachel and I want her to become friends with the other kids in the neighborhood- I offered to have it at my place this year, and I'd like for you to come."

The elevator door opened and House stepped out with Cuddy still following him. "You do know Rachel doesn't talk yet right?"

"There's no reason why I can't get to know the parents."

He nodded to her answer. "Why do you want me there?"

Cuddy stopped walking and House sensed it so turned to look at her and stopped himself. "Why do you think I want you there?"

He looked around and saw some staff walking around them so took a couple steps closer to her to say what he was about to say without being too loud. "Are you sure you want me there? You just spent Thanksgiving with Lucas, didn't you?" Cuddy opened her mouth about to answer but he continued. "And now it's a new holiday, only a month later and you invite a new guy to come around?"

"But," Cuddy extended her right arm and put it on his right shoulder and he looked down at it then back at her. "You're not the 'new guy.' I mean, you are, as far as who I'm dating," she saw his stance got rigid, "but, you should have been the one I spent Thanksgiving with. I never should have been with Lucas in the first place. That was just-stupid of me."

He inhaled and slowly let it out and squinted one eye and twisted his mouth, "can I think about it?"

She smiled at him, "you can. Let me know before you leave for the day."

He nodded and she watched him go into his office. She wished she could have kissed him before he left her but, she fought against the urge seeing all the members of his team in there waiting to greet him, so she turned around to go back to the elevator to head back onto the first floor, only having followed him up to his office to say what she needed.

When it reached what he considered should be the end of his day six hours later, House scooped up his stuff that he tossed on his lounge chair and stopped by Wilson's office to tell him that he will see him later at home, and waited for the elevator after he used the tip of his cane to press the button. He headed towards Cuddy's office as requested by her to tell her that he thought about it, and why not, he'll go if she wants him to be there. He opened the doors and looked around into the empty office confused. Since she expected him to come by before he left, he imagined she would come tell him if she chose to leave early.

House left her office and stopped in the Clinic and leaned into the nurses face that was sitting behind the counter. "What do you want, House?" she asked without looking up at him.

"Where's Cuddy?"

"She went to her car, she said she'll be right back if you want to-" the nurse looked up when she felt his face not so close to hers and saw him limping away towards the lobby.

House exited the doors to the hospital and scanned the parking lot to see her car in her spot behind all the cars that were blocking his view until he got to where his motorcycle was parked.

He smiled when he spotted her and started going in her direction to tell her what he wanted before he left, but stopped abruptly when he saw that she was talking to someone that was blocked by another car. His curiosity grew and took one step closer and saw that the person she was conversing with was Lucas.

House scowled in anger and turned on his heel toward his motorcycle opting against telling her, and opting against saying good bye to her. He couldn't believe he fell for all the crap she told him earlier. That it should have been him all this time. No wonder she met up with Lucas outside, she didn't want him or Wilson to see them together inside the hospital. What she hadn't anticipated, and what she should have if she truly knew him at all was to expect the unexpected with him. He could leave at any time like right now, and he would have seen them, like he just did.

Another thought occurred to him as he reached his motorcycle and snapped his cane into spot on it and sat on his seat; that maybe she had planned it this way. She wanted him to see. He held his keys in his right hand and turned his head to see her again wondering how long she had been out here with him.

He hated Lucas more and more. He put his helmet on, stuck his key into his motorcycle to start it and decided to exit the parking lot going down the aisle of cars where hers was parked. His eyes were on Lucas, narrowed in anger on him when he saw Lucas turn in the direction of his motorcycle when he heard it coming, then looked at Cuddy with the same expression before passing, who looked back at him startled...


	25. Chapter 25

House arrived at Wilson's apartment that is still also his own, and turned his motorcycle off, grabbed his cane from the side and swung his good leg over to get off of it. He lifted his chin to unclasp his helmet and pulled it off of his head and heard his cell phone start ringing in his right jean pocket. He knew who it was and let it ring. He was in no mood to hear her side of the story.

He saw the look she gave him as he rode his motorcycle past them in his mind's eye the whole way home. It bothered him that she looked so startled. What was she startled about? Him being there and seeing her? That didn't bother him as much as the why she was hiding in the first place. If it was something innocent, then she wouldn't have met him in the parking lot for whatever reason he just conveniently showed up at the hospital for.

He limped over to the front door and dug in his jacket pocket for the keys, ignoring the alert telling him he had a voicemail waiting. Once he was inside he tossed all his stuff on the couch, something he knew Wilson hated, but he wasn't home to gripe about it, so House left it all there and went into his bedroom.

House opened the door to the closet and grabbed the box that held a new pair of sneakers, and also, a bottle of Vicodin that he had kept hidden from Wilson. It was a full bottle he had around in case he felt he needed it. He yanked it out from behind one of the shoes and stared at it sitting in his right palm. He wrapped his hand around the familiar shape and limped over to the right side of the bed and sat down.

He thought about opening it. He needed something to take the edge off of the pain he was feeling from his leg and because he felt pain from feeling like he was just betrayed by Cuddy before they were even anything yet. One date and he felt he lost her already, to Lucas, again. He looked around him and his eyes landed on a picture of Amber that Wilson still hadn't taken down. He opened his hand and looked down at the bottle again. His hand started shaking. He frustratedly threw the bottle up against the wall and clutched onto his leg.

His head fell back, looking at the ceiling; Amber. The reason he was off Vicodin in the first place. The hallucinations he was having of her were the beginning of his downward spiral and now he couldn't find comfort in the one thing that always seemed to work for him. He squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of his cell phone ringing again.

He listened as it rang four times before stopping. He opened his eyes and looked down at it and waited for the alert to chime again for a voicemail, but it never came. He reached over for it with his left hand and saw that he had five missed calls with four voicemails all from her. He sighed, called the number to hear them and put his phone on speaker, looking at it as if he could see her while leaving them, hearing it say he had four new messages before it played the first one for him.

"House, I know you're probably still on your way home but, please call me when you get in," she hung up, ending the first message.

He heard the voice again tell him 'next new message' before it played it. "House," he noticed her voice sounded more worried than before. "You should have been home by now...unless, you aren't going there. Call me, okay?"

Next message, "House, please, we need to talk." He winced at that one. He didn't know what she wanted to 'talk' about, but he was afraid to find out.

He kept track of how many he had and how many he listened to, and after hearing the voice tell him 'next new message ' again, he listened intently. "House, please don't do this. Don't hide from me. I need to hear your voice. I can't end the day without speaking to you after what you saw. Please, it's not what you think, House." He heard her hang up and he hung up also.

He stared at his phone debating on whether to call her back when he heard a knock at the front door. He looked up, set his phone back on the bed and grabbed his cane and limped out, holding his leg for extra support into the living room. He looked through the peephole and saw Cuddy on the other side. He looked down at his feet and took a long closed mouth deep breath and opened the door.

"House," Cuddy said relieved that he was there in front of her. He saw her eyes were misty and she bit down on the lower corner of her right lip to hold in her emotions that the sight of him triggered in her. He turned and walked over to the back of the couch and faced her again, sitting on the edge of the top of the couch that was now behind him and rubbed his leg. "You didn't call me back," she told him, taking a couple steps into the living room, closing the door behind her for privacy, knowing Wilson was still at the hospital.

"I just heard them when you knocked," he looked back down, not being able to look her in the eye.

"It's not what you think, House," she took a couple steps closer to him, "he just came by to drop off some things that I left at his place and-"

"I can't do this," he said quietly, shaking his head.

"House, please..just think about-"

"I have," he looked up at her and she saw nothing but pain in his expression. "I can't do this if he's going to keep coming around, and you keep letting him."

"But he's not. That was it House I promise-"

"You can't promise me that...because tomorrow he'll find some other reason, and the day after that."

"So, you're saying that you don't want to give us a chance?" Cuddy took another cautious step closer to him. He could see tears building up in her eyes.

"Of course I do," he replied, his voice strained. "I just...don't want to jump into anything that I'll end up getting hurt from. I'm dealing with a lot right now, I'm trying to stay clean, I have to live with Wilson because no one trusts me to be on my own yet and with you-" he took a deep unsteady breath before going on. "I want to make us work. But, I want to make sure Lucas is gone for good before I do that, before we start something. I've made progress since Mayfield, and if things keep going the way they are going, with him showing up whenever he damn well pleases- that's enough to trigger a setback for me. So, I just-need time," he gave her a pleading look, wanting her to understand where he's coming from.

"Okay," she answered solemnly and took another step toward him, and he stood up on guard for what she was doing. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her left cheek against his chest. "I understand what you're going through, House. I want you to succeed, but I also wish I could be there for you. You need more than Wilson to get you through it. But, I'll give you the time you need."

He squeezed his eyes shut, hating Lucas for making him hesitant, which is causing not only himself pain, but Cuddy as well. He let go of his cane, letting it fall back against the couch, opened his eyes and wrapped both arms around her, holding her close, inhaling deeply, taking her all in. She smiled against his chest when she felt his embrace and lifted her head to look up at him. Their eyes stayed locked, neither one of them saying anything.

He watched as after they stared into each others eyes for minutes which to both of them felt like seconds, she broke the stare and leaned her head into his body and he closed his eyes when he felt her lips on the left side of his neck. He felt every detail. Her mouth was open slightly, feeling her teeth and her tongue teasing his skin with little caresses, followed by cold air when she pulled away.

He opened his eyes to see hers looking back into them. Her eyes were soft and understanding. He felt her arms unwrap from holding him and used both hands to cradle his face and pulled it down to meet hers, and kissed him softly on the lips. They both opened their mouths at the same time and their tongues slowly danced around each others.

She broke the kiss first and he let his arms fall to his side. "Don't take too long," she said sadly and turned to let herself out.

House stared at the front door frozen in his spot reliving what just happened, his hand touching his neck and moving to his lips where her lips were. He didn't want to wait, but, he was crappy at relationships and didn't want this one to fail.

He looked down at his cane, reached for it with his right hand, and limped back into his bedroom. He found the same spot on his bed he sat in before Cuddy showed up and saw the Vicodin bottle near the dresser on the floor. He took a step forward, leaned down to pick it up and sat back on his bed. He stared at it in his hand, this time, not with a shaky hand, seeing the pills through the orange container and after a couple minutes of thought, thinking of Lucas and his constant appearances in the hospital, his leg starting to cause him agony that he knew Ibuprofen wouldn't help with. He sighed, silently apologizing to Cuddy, and used his thumb to pop it open...


	26. Chapter 26

House limped cautiously into the lobby of the hospital the next morning, feeling like there was a sign pinned to his back to tell everyone what happened in his bedroom the night before. He kept his eyes straight ahead, showing no indication of going near Cuddy's office or, to look in the direction of it and give a reason for her to come out of it to get to him if she caught him looking. But, it didn't matter. She was in the Clinic and saw the change in his demeanor than what it normally is in the morning and walked around the counter to go to him anyway.

"House!" she called out.

He winced with his back to her, already near the elevator and took a step quicker than his normal pace. He lifted his cane and used the tip to hit the button multiple times, hoping it opened before she gained speed and caught up with him.

The doors slid open and he saw Thirteen's eyes look relieved. "House, I was just looking for you," she took a step towards him but he pushed her back into the elevator using the tip of his cane pushing lightly against her stomach. Her gaze went to his cane then up at him with her right eyebrow arched, taking the steps she was forced to take as he stood next to her lowering his cane, "tell me on the way up," he told her, leaving her with nothing else. House looked out into the lobby as the doors were closing on them and saw the hurt in Cuddy's expression. He knew she knew he was trying to get away from her. He heard Thirteen say what she came down looking for him to say but he didn't hear a word. His mind was focused on Cuddy.

"House. House did you hear anything I just said?" Thirteen yanked on House's jacket sleeve and pulled him out of his thought when the elevator doors opened for them when reaching their floor and House stepped out into the hallway with Thirteen at his heels.

"Of course I did. We have a sick patient. Go cure them, I'll be in here," House pointed at Wilson's office door and turned his back on Thirteen and started limping towards the office of his friend. Thirteen stormed off frustrated, knowing he wasn't listening at all, and went back into the office where the rest of the team was to work out their problem until House came to them.

House opened the door and poked his head in, seeing Wilson look up at him questionably. He came through the opening, closed the door behind him and slumped onto his couch without a word. He felt Wilson's stare still on him.

House looked down into his lap, needing to tell someone. "I took Vicodin last night." He heard the noise of Wilson's chair moving back and he looked over at him and saw Wilson's questionable expression that he wore a second ago was replaced with concern, staring at House, leaning back in his chair. "Are you going to yell at me?" House couldn't stand when Wilson said nothing.

"Do you want me to yell at you?"

"I want you to do something!"

"Why did you tell me?"

House looked at Wilson stunned. He didn't know why he told him. He could have gone on and acted like it never happened, as long as he promised himself it was a one time thing. But, he didn't. He had to be honest with himself. "I'm afraid I might do it again," he told him quietly.

Wilson sighed, "where did you get it?"

House looked away from him, and focused on the table that sat in front of the couch. "I had a bottle hidden from you in the closet...in case I ever needed it."

"Did you need it? Or did you just take it because it was there?"

"Both."

"Does Cuddy know?"

House turned his head to look at Wilson again. "Why would you ask that?"

Wilson shrugged, "you guys went out on a date the other night, didn't you? I figured that you-"

"No. She doesn't know," House interrupted, not wanting Wilson to force out of him the story of why they aren't going any further since their date. Or why he just ignored her in the lobby.

"House," Wilson started in a more serious tone which House didn't think was possible until he heard the change. "Was she the reason?"

House didn't answer him, and that was enough. Wilson knew she was. He pushed his desk chair that he was sitting in away from the desk and stood up. He walked over to House and extended his arm out to him. House glanced at his palm then up to meet his gaze. "Do you have the bottle on you?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"Then where is it?" Wilson lowered his arm down to his side.

"It's still in my closet. It's in the shoe box on the floor." House watched Wilson turn away from him and yanked his jacket off of his coat rack near his door.

"If Cuddy comes looking for me, tell her I ran out for a little while but I'll be back when I can."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take your bottle before you slip again." Wilson gave House a warm smile, to let him know he was there for him and what he was about to do was for House's own good and left him in his office with his own thoughts.

House stayed there replaying the events of the night before and why it happened. He rested his head on the back of the couch and stayed in the abandoned office for a little while longer, not ready to face his team, silently hoping Wilson came back before Cuddy noticed so he didn't have to face her...


	27. Chapter 27

Cuddy sat at her desk thinking over what just happened. She wanted to go back in time to their date. She wished she expressed to him how annoyed she was that Lucas kept showing up. Maybe this could have been avoided all together if she had. He wouldn't be thinking she was so pleasant with him every time he came around, because she wasn't. When he told her that she just let him come around, she was so caught up in the moment, that she didn't think to mention it then. And when she tried to get him alone to tell him just now he saw Thirteen and slipped into the elevator forcing her to stay with him. She knew he did that to get away from her.

She nervously strummed her fingers from her left hand on the surface of her desk, trying to estimate how much time would be good before she went up to his floor and try again. She couldn't wait out to see if Lucas would come around or not because that would be time wasted for them. She wanted to stay with him last night, or at least until Wilson came home so he wouldn't do anything he would regret, but, she didn't want to push him further so she left.

She sighed deeply and rolled her chair away from her desk, stood up while straightening her skirt she had on and took a couple steps forward towards her door when she caught sight of Wilson rushing through the lobby and out the door. Her mouth fell agape in confusion to see him leave and was going to run after him when another thought hit her. She could go ask House. He always knows Wilson's business and it's nothing to do with the two of them so he would have no reason to run from her this time as long as she could get him before he sees her and has the chance to make himself busy with something else before she can ask him.

She smiled, pleased with herself for having thought of it and opened the doors to her office and cut across the Clinic and opened the doors to enter the lobby. She was a couple steps from hitting the button to the elevator when she heard a voice she recognized call out her name.

Lucas.

She scowled, angry that he was back and turned to face him. She stormed over in his direction and pulled his sleeve over to the side of the lobby near the Clinic to get out of everyone's way. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice raised, not caring if people hear her angry. "How many times do I have to tell you that we're over?" she continued in the same tone.

"I just wanted to see if maybe you wanted to come with me to-"

"I don't!" she cut in, not wanting to hear the rest of that question. "I'm done with you, Lucas!"

Lucas took a step towards her and she took a step back. "I miss you, Lisa. I want to try and work this out. I've been thinking about it and-"

"Lucas," she started through clenched teeth. "Stop coming over here. I don't want to see you, I don't want to give you another chance, I don't want anything else to do with you! I-" Cuddy's attention was ripped away when she saw a figure limping in the corner of her eye and looked to see House with all his things, walking towards the lobby door. As if pulled by a magnet, she walked right up to him. "House," she said, trying to get his attention but he kept going. She wouldn't let him get away this time. "House," she said more sternly, now following him out the lobby door. "House, as your boss I'm ordering you to turn and look at me!" she screamed desperate to try anything.

To her surprise, he did turn, but when he did, he looked angry. "As my boss? Really?"

"It's the only way I could get you to stop," she responded defensively.

"Well fine, you got me to look at you, can I go now?"

"You think you can just walk out of here just like that? You have a patient that needs you."

"I also have a phone. My team can call me."

"I need you here."

"You don't!" he screamed.

She studied him. He looked anxious about something. "I do because you're a doctor in my hospital and I say when you can and can't leave."

"Oh, right, I forgot. We're just all trained monkeys, waiting for our banana at the end of the day. Well, I don't care about mine! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch up with Wilson," he turned and took one step away.

"Where did he go?"

"It's not your concern, he'll be coming back. I might not be," he answered over his shoulder, still getting further away.

She took strides towards him and caught up with him at his left. "If you're not coming back because you feel uncomfortable about things with me then-"

House stopped and leaned in and faced her with anger all over his face. "I might not come back because I may have to put myself back into rehab! You really want to know where Wilson is? Fine! He's going to our place right now to hide a bottle of Vicodin I have because I slipped and took some last night! And instead of letting him go and do that, I need to catch up with him, beat him with my cane," he lifted it up to show her then lowered it, "because I can't not have any! I might need more help then Wilson to stay off of it! That's why Wilson left because he's trying his best to keep me clean, and that's why I'm leaving! To stop him from trying his best!" He turned away from her without another word and she watched him limp away from her.

She was so shocked, she was shaking. She didn't know what to respond with, so she stayed quiet. She buckled her knees straight, feeling them shaking so much she was sure she would fall when watching him reach his motorcycle, and she turned back to the hospital the best she could, raising her left hand to her forehead, feeling a headache come on, but her hand was shaking just as bad as her legs were, so lowered it back down.

She took an unsteady breath and grabbed the door handle to let herself in and saw Lucas still there waiting for her which just made things worse. "Get the hell out of my hospital, Lucas! If you ever come back here I'll have security take you away! Now go!" she barked at him, not waiting to see if he listened or not. She rushed into her office and grabbed her desk phone and started dialing Wilson's cell to warn him about House...


	28. Chapter 28

"Wilson!" House screamed from the front door and slammed it shut behind him. "You're car is still here, I know you haven't gone back to the hospital!" House roamed the apartment and found Wilson sitting at the island in the kitchen.

"I know why you're here, House, and it's not going to work," he told him firmly.

"Where did you put it?" House demanded, limping into the kitchen seeing Wilson unmoved and unaffected by the angry expression on House's face.

"I'm not telling. You're freaking out by the idea that it won't be in your reach if you need it, and that's why you came here. You started to have second thoughts as soon as I left you. But dammit House, it's for your own good!"

"Where is it Wilson?" House got in his face, clutching onto his cane tightly, trying hard to not strike him with it.

"No," Wilson folded his arms over his chest and stared House down.

"I need those pills!"

"You don't! You just think you do because you're going through crap with Cuddy and you're hurting but-"

"You don't know that for sure! I never answered-!"

"She called me. She told me you were coming. House," Wilson said calmly, trying to get the anger out of his friend and stood up but House was angry that Cuddy called him and threw his cane across the room and pressed Wilson up against the wall, taking it out on him. "House, don't do this," Wilson said pinned, seeing the anger and hurt in his friend's face, knowing that it's his addictive personality lashing out.

"House!"

He gripped tighter onto Wilson at the sound of Lucas' voice. "How did you find me here?" House asked him through clenched teeth.

"Are you kidding? You have to remember what I do. I followed you from the hospital."

"Shouldn't you still be there with Cuddy?" he asked, his voice a little more raised, staring Wilson down who showed no fear as to how he was being treated.

"That's what I'm here to talk to you about, House. She doesn't want me there. I know you are spiraling out of control because you think something is going on but-"

"How do you know what I'm going through and what's pissing me off?" House responded, looking to his right to see Lucas for the first time.

"How can I not? It's clear what's bothering you. And you're doing it for nothing. Let Wilson go," Lucas told him motioning to Wilson.

"So what are you going to say next?" House spat out, tightening his grip on Wilson out of frustration. "That you've come here as a friend and you want to save the day?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nooo, actually. Not at all. I'm here to tell you I lost Cuddy to you, and having known what losing her feels like, I was hoping you weren't as stupid as you appeared to be by destroying what you have before you gave it a full chance to start. But, by the looks of things, you are," he motioned to what he was doing to Wilson again. "And I'm not here as a friend. You seem to be threatening the only guy in the world who can stand being your friend, which tells me, you're even more stupid then I thought. You really want to drive him away too? I'm here for Lisa. She seems to think you've changed into this great guy. I really wanted to believe her because I don't want you to hurt her like she thinks you'll never do." Lucas looked away from House over to Wilson. "How are you doing, Wilson?"

"Good, can't complain," Wilson answered, his voice strained because of House's grip.

Cuddy thinks he's changed into a great guy. Is Lucas right? he wondered. Will he hurt her? House looked over at his friend in horror at the idea that Lucas could be right about him too. He'd done some crappy things to Wilson in the past, but this may be an all low. He released him and watched as Wilson looked back at him hesitantly and slowly started to straighten out his clothes that House bunched up in his fist. Their eyes stayed on each others without speaking. Wilson was waiting to see if House would say something first, but he never did. House didn't know what to say. He quietly reached for his cane and limped passed Lucas who witnessed the two of them and their silent exchange, wondering if either of them knew what the other was thinking because he had no clue, and House left the apartment, having left the two of them alone...


	29. Chapter 29

House sat hunched staring into his second scotch when the stool next to him scraped against the floor. "How did you find me?" he asked lifting the glass to his lips and downed half of it in one swallow, knowing who took the seat next to him without having to look.

"I figured you'd come here to have a drink after you stormed off the way you did," Wilson told him as he looked around the bar to see there weren't many people other than the two of them there.

"Sorry, about what I did," House said awkwardly, placing the glass back down on the napkin.

Wilson sighed, "it's...okay, House...So, are you going to see Cuddy?"

House scoffed and twisted his head to face Wilson. "And say what? You drove me insane with your ex hanging around that I got into my secret stash of Vicodin and took some because I couldn't stand it anymore...and nearly killed my best friend to get it back?"

"Well, maybe not in those words...and, you didn't almost kill me."

House took another swig of his drink. "I wanted to."

"Was Lucas right? It was him that made you jealous enough to..well, have a set back?" Wilson saw the bartender come over to where they sat and ordered a Budweiser when waiting for House to answer.

"No, I wasn't jealous... I was angry. Angry that she was with him while I was away, and yeah, she may have broken up with him because of me, but, having him around, always coming to the hospital...it reminded me over and over of what she did. She didn't wait for me like you did. She wasn't there when I needed help." The bartender came back with Wilson's order and House put up a finger to signify one more for himself.

"Did you ask her to wait for you?"

House looked down with regret, "no."

Wilson sighed, "well, he's staying away now."

"Did he say that?" House asked, looking at Wilson.

"Noooo, but-"

"He still might," House slammed his fist on the bar in frustration. The bartender came back with their orders and gave House a threatening look and left. They both reached for their drinks and took a long gulp before their conversation continued.

"House, go talk to her. Tell her what's going on. You may be right and she wasn't there when-"

"Maybe right?" House butted in angrily.

"She is now," Wilson sighed and continued. "Lucas didn't leave right away when you left. He said that when he was coming to the hospital to see her, it was all his doing. She never invited him there, never asked to drop her stuff off, he just..came by. House, it's you she cares about, it's you she wants. Don't screw it up."

"Now you're starting to sound like him," House spat out irritated and brought his drink up to him again.

"House," he said firmly. "Go see her." House held Wilson's gaze thinking over his demand for him to confront Cuddy with all that is going on with him. He sighed and unhooked his cane from the railing on the bar and swiveled his body around the stool and stood up. "Are you going to the hospital?" Wilson called out.

"Sure, whatever you say," House shouted over his shoulder. Wilson smiled, watching House exit the bar and took hold of the neck of his beer and took a gulp and saw the bartender make his way over.

"You covering both?" he asked Wilson.

Wilson glanced down at House's abandoned glass. "Dammit," he mumbled out loud, wondering if House left at that moment on purpose. "Yeah, guess I am." The bartender nodded and walked over to the cash register to ring up all the drinks.

Cuddy was sitting at her desk staring at the screen in front of her with her eyes unfocused, thinking of House and if he harmed Wilson in anyway. She saw the look of determination in his eyes and it scared her. She hated that something could set him off so easily to have a set back. She wanted to believe he was stronger than that. She thought the therapy sessions he was still in were supposed to help. She furrowed her brow in her own thought back, not having heard about his sessions in a while and wondered if he was still going, and if he wasn't, if that had anything to do with his slip.

She sighed, feeling helpless. She leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes knowing that staring at the computer was pointless. She began to get a feeling someone was looking in on her. She hesitantly opened her eyes and saw a figure standing on the other side of her office door. "House," Cuddy mumbled out loud to herself at the sight of him.

She stood when she saw he reached for the handle, his eyes on her the whole time. "Sit," he told her when he walked in and closed the door behind him. She did obediently, out of shock that he was there and watched him take a seat on the chair next to the couch so he could face her without having to turn his head.

He sighed and glanced down at the table not being able to look at her big blue-grey eyes that showed curiosity and concern and if he wasn't mistaken, love, all in one expression. "I have a problem, Cuddy," he swallowed hard and met her gaze. "And we need to talk about it."...


	30. Chapter 30

"Okay," Cuddy answered. "I'm here for you, House, you know that."

"No," he pointed his left pointer finger at her, and looked down at the table again. "Don't do that, Cuddy. It screws with my head. One minute I think you are, and when I think you aren't you try and tell me you are, hell, you send Lucas in to tell me-"

"Lucas?" Cuddy asked surprised.

House met her gaze and held it. "You didn't know he followed me? He was acting like he came on his own, but, in the back of my mind I thought you sent him because I saw him here before I left and you were-"

"Telling him to go away."

"Dammit, Cuddy! Stop interrupting!" She sighed and closed her mouth, and looked back at him with pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he told her in a more calmed manner.

"House," she started softly. "What is going on with you? Why are you mad at me? Keeping me at arm's length? Please, tell me. I want to be there for you. We had a good date," he shot a look at her that made her fearful of him with his mood that had been swinging back and forth lately, "or, whatever you want to call it." He inhaled and was about to interrupt her but she put her right hand up to stop him. "House, let me in. I want to be there for you, the way Wilson is."

He looked down and let out a laugh. "That's my biggest problem right now. Is dealing with you being there for me," he looked back up at her with sad eyes. "I thought what was bothering me the most was Lucas and that made me take Vicodin, which made me angry, and that led me to here. But, it goes even deeper than that. Why Lucas was here in the first place." Cuddy looked at him uncomfortably as to where this was going. "I wanted you to be there like Wilson was when I came back. A part of me thought you were...the stupid, idiotic part of me," he shook his head while focused on the table. "Or maybe that was the part of me that wanted to believe you were so convinced myself you were," he smiled softly.

"But you weren't," he continued. "You never were. I thought that one damn kiss a year ago meant something; which is probably why that led me to hallucinate you and not..." he struggled trying to think, and continued to avoid looking at her, "Stacy. Or hell, even Cameron. She always seemed overly concerned about everyone. It would have actually made sense if it weren't for the being with Chase part, if it were her in that she always has to be there for people who are damaged, which is why she thought she was in love with me in the first place. But no, it was neither of them. It was you," he pointed at her. "All because of that stupid kiss when I was trying to make you feel better about the baby you didn't adopt." He looked down to think then continued, "and you screwing with me, making me think you liked me back." He sighed, "I hate to say it, but I regret that kiss now. To avoid all this I'm feeling now, which I wouldn't be going through had that not happened. You'd be happy with him, or whoever you would have found yourself with..and I would be going through my list of hookers without any guilt of how you might feel about it. You know I actually felt guilt after that kiss about screwing them?" he huffed and shook his head. "If I had known what would happen.." he drifted off not finishing his thought.

House looked back at her and saw tears had been streaming down her face and he wasn't sure for how long. "Cuddy," he said in a soft tone. "I'm not saying this to hurt you. This is just me, trying to be honest with you. You just said you want me to tell you things. Well, I am."

"Dammit, House," she said through tears, in an uneven voice. "I did love you...do love you. I don't regret that kiss like you do. I wanted to be with you. All those things, the panicked feeling when you were being held up at gunpoint with that idiot of a patient...and then after, choosing your office, not just because it was the biggest one to share, but because it was yours," she smiled and wiped away a tear, "as angry as I was that you announced us sleeping together, which ended up being your hallucination that night..I was secretly flattered that it was me once I knew what was going on," she shook her head. "I know I should have been there. I regret that. I shouldn't have been with Lucas. I was only with him because he was dependable for me and Rachel." He frowned and looked down. "I'm not saying you can never be. I'm saying at that time, with you gone, you couldn't be that guy for me. I needed someone there. But, House," she paused and waited until he looked back up before continuing. "The whole time I was with him, I wished it were you instead. I never cared for him the way I care for you, and I didn't realize the intensity of it until you came back."

She didn't say anything else. She watched as he took everything in that was just said to him. He sighed, not knowing how to react. "I need more time, Cuddy." He grabbed his cane and left her office, closing the door behind him. Cuddy bit her lip and new tears came flowing down with the thought of him never coming back to her in the way she had hoped...


	31. Chapter 31

House had his feet up on his desk while sitting in his desk chair throwing his tennis ball up in the air to catch it when Wilson walked in. "Are you going to hide up here in your tower all night long?" he asked.

"That's the plan," House answered as he threw it up and caught it one more time. He had it clutched in his hands and looked over at Wilson who stood uncomfortably in a new suit. "You bought that just for tonight?" he asked confused.

Wilson shrugged and walked over to the chair on the right facing House and took a seat. "I thought I'd look nice for the Christmas party, and," he looked down at himself, "I can wear this again for something."

House swung his legs off of his desk and placed his tennis ball in its spot. "So, what did you come up here for?"

"I need a reason?"

"You usually have one."

Wilson sighed, "how long has it been since you've talked to her?" House scowled at him. "You asked me why I came up here!" he shouted defensively.

"A couple weeks, give or take," House shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

"You still need more time then that?"

"Yes."

Wilson sighed again, "House, don't you think you're being too hard on her? I mean, didn't you kind of have a thing with someone at Mayfield?"

"That didn't mean anything! She was married! I needed a release and she...was there. And wait...you're on her side in this?" he asked, sitting straight again.

Wilson put his hands up in surrender, "I'm not taking sides," he lowered his hands back down into his lap. "If I were, I'd be on yours. But, unfortunately, you guys stick me in the middle of all your fights so I have to go back and forth between the two of you to try and smooth things out because you won't directly talk to each other!"

"So, you talked to her?" House asked suddenly interested in what he had to say.

"I did..she's waiting for you, House. She's waiting until you've had your time to think things through. But...as your friend, if you really want her the way you seem to, don't wait too long."

"Did she say that?"

"She didn't have to. She has no idea what you're thinking or feeling. She's a beautiful woman, House. Someone else will show interest in her soon enough if you don't." Wilson moved his hands over to the arm rests and pushed himself out of the chair and awkwardly straightened his suit out which House took pleasure in watching. "Come down. If not for the party, then to just see her. Maybe seeing her will get you to want to talk," he shrugged.

House watched Wilson walk out and go into the direction of the elevator to rejoin the party in the lobby. He rubbed his beard on his right cheek with his hand, thinking over what Wilson said to him. He sighed and grabbed his cane, flicked the switch of the light when he reached it and left his office to go down to the lobby...


	32. Chapter 32

The elevator doors opened up for House and he exited and found himself in the lobby that he barely recognized. The hospital has had many Christmas parties in the past but this year, the lobby was decorated in so much red and green, and candy canes hung in every area where they could be, he felt as though he stepped inside someone's digestive tract that loved Christmas so much they ate it. He scowled at each candy cane he passed while walking through feeling like he was silently mocked by whoever decided upon that addition to the decor.

He held his scowl for all the faces that looked at him smiling as he scanned around him looking for Cuddy. He heard Wilson's nagging voice telling him to talk to her and knew he would be facing even more nagging if he found out he didn't, so opted to not walk out the door like he wanted to do, but turned to his left to walk through the Clinic which had it's doors propped open to get to Cuddy's office to see if she was in there.

He got a step inside the Clinic area when he felt a tug at his right sleeve to pull him back and he turned his face with a dirty look expecting to see the likes of Wilson or a member of his team but instead, was faced with the nurse that ran out to him before to hand him the paper airplane he made. She smiled at him as though not seeing the expression he wore and pointed up. He followed her finger and saw mistletoe hanging from the entryway. "Looks like we're caught under it."

"Yeah, but only because you stopped me and you came here. Doesn't count," he replied, trying to take another step but she swiveled around to block him.

"C'mon, Dr. House. It's Christmas."

He huffed and narrowed his eyes on her. "And that means what exactly?" She ignored his resistance and pulled him close to her and kissed his lips. His eyes roamed around at people who may be watching and caught sight of Cuddy coming out of her office and spotting them. House's eyes moved towards the nurse and started pushing her away which she fought against. He added more force to his push which caused her to step back and House went straight to Cuddy's office which she slipped back into.

"Get out, House," she said firmly as she sat back at her chair, when she saw him come in.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" she repeated angrily. "What do you think is wrong? You know, I would have expected a little more decency from you and tell me that you're passed me face to face and to not show me by making out with other members of the staff in front of my office!" she screamed out, while giving him a piercing stare.

"That? That was not making out!" he shouted, pointing towards the Clinic. "I don't know if you noticed, but I was looking around waiting for it to be over!"

"Psh, yeah, because it was forced, right?" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"It was! I don't like her! She's a moron! There's mistletoe hanging over that damn doorway and I got cornered when I came down to see you!" he motioned violently with his left hand towards her.

"Oh, really? Mistletoe?" she challenged, coming around her desk to look while House tracked her with his eyes, while leaning forward on his cane.

"Yes! Mistletoe!"

She poked her head out and glared at him. "There's nothing there, House. Get out!" she shouted and stormed back to her desk.

He limped over to the door to see for himself and saw that it was gone. "Well someone must have taken it down."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what happened," she spat out.

He limped back towards her which she ignored, keeping her head down. "Yeah, it is exactly what happened." He tossed what he had in his pocket on the surface of her desk where she was staring and he turned around to leave her office but looked at her again, "I figured you would want the proof," he told her angrily, and left her office, Clinic and lobby, leaving Cuddy staring at the mistletoe. She glanced up and saw the nurse walk by who he was kissing and she jumped out of her chair to catch up with her.

"Hi," Cuddy said to her when she stood by her side and got her attention, trying to calm herself, but felt anger still boiling up inside of her as she expected to find out he lied to her.

"Hi," she answered.

"This...is going to sound really stupid. But, did you, by any chance, trap Dr. House into..." Cuddy struggled to get the words out but couldn't say them.

"Kissing me?" she finished for her.

"Yeah," she said embarrassed.

She shrugged, "yeah, I did. He may be a mean, rude, lunatic, but...hot..you know?" she shrugged again. "Anyway, I gave it a shot, right? I always kinda wanted to know if he was a good kisser, and damn..he may have been fighting it, but, he is!" she walked away from Cuddy a little disappointed that it didn't go further. Cuddy stood there feeling as though she just blew it with him, again. House was telling her the truth.

She pushed herself to move, thinking how she might still be able to catch him so shuffled through the crowds and opened the doors to the lobby only to find that his motorcycle he took to the hospital that day was gone...


	33. Chapter 33

Cuddy was both relieved and unhappy that she had the next day off from the hospital. She spent most of the night trying to get a hold of House after he left but was unsuccessful. She couldn't reach him by phone, and when she went over to Wilson's place neither of them were there. So she had to just forget about it if she wanted to get any sleep for the Christmas party for the neighbors that she had to throw.

She laid down in bed and tossed and turned, thinking of the day ahead of her. She had everything she needed, all she had to do was set up. She knew she should be exhausted. It was a long week and an exceptionally long day. But every time she closed her eyes she saw House. She sighed and threw her comforter half way off her body and looked over at her alarm clock on her night stand that read 1:58am. She didn't know how that happened. She must have fallen asleep for a little while without realizing it. It was nearly 11 when she laid down. Whether that's what happened, or she was so consumed with thinking of him it made hours seem like minutes, she knew she had to do something.

She saw her cell phone through the glow of the red numbers on the clock and thought about trying to call him again. She had already tried three times and knew they wouldn't show because it went straight to voice mail which meant his phone was off and she never left a message. She hung up after hearing the greeting, or what he considered a greeting start to be on the safe side, ignoring the want to hear his voice. This time she would leave a message.

She grabbed her phone and scrolled down to his name not believing she was actually trying to call him so late and squeezed her eyes shut when hitting the call button. They popped open when it rang. She knew if she hung up now he would know she called, and he would see that she didn't leave a message. She didn't even know what she was calling for; what she would say if he answered. She just knew she couldn't sleep until she made some kind of contact. After the fourth ring his voice mail message came on. "You've reached the cell of Greg House. If you are listening to this it means that I don't want to talk to you. So, I would just hang up now because leaving a message after the annoying beep that will chime when I'm done talking won't help you get a response from me any sooner if at all. If it's an emergency I definitely won't call back, so don't even bother with that line either."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the sound of his voice and heard the beep. "House, it's me. I know its late, but, I...," she took a deep breath before continuing, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn't have yelled like that and," she paused, wanting to go on but didn't know where to start. "Anyway, I'll, see you at the hospital on Monday. Good bye, House."

Cuddy set her cell back on the nightstand and felt a little bit better than she did before leaving that message having heard his voice, and knowing he will get the apology for her blow up and not believing him earlier. She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

House stared at his phone when he heard the alert for a voice mail when it stopped ringing. He was laying in bed thinking of the events of the day, wishing he could take back the moment he decided to go down to speak to Cuddy after Wilson left his office. If he went down there a minute later, or a minute earlier, maybe things would have ended differently. He looked over at his cell that sat on the nightstand and saw the blinking red light. He reached over and grabbed it to first see who it was that called.

He expected to see the call was from Taub, Thirteen, Chase, or Foreman, and ignored it, not wanting to have to go back in. But his heart started to beat faster when he saw Cuddy's name. He immediately hit the button to send him to voice mail thinking something happened to her and didn't know who else to call. "House, it's me..." confusion set in when he heard her voice calm. This wasn't a frantic middle of the night phone call. He continued to listen and when she disconnected, he hit save instead of erase and set his phone on his stomach, staring at the shadow from the tree outside his window that splashed across the wall he was facing. He replayed her message in his head as he fell asleep.

Cuddy woke up the next morning at 8:09. Despite the amount of sleep she got, she felt well rested and ready to take on the day. She thought about the phone call she made and what she said and immediately grabbed her phone from the night stand. She frowned at her screen when she saw there weren't any missed calls or voice mails waiting for her. Maybe that was a good thing, she thought to herself. She didn't know what to expect as his reaction to her message and as long as he didn't give one, she felt the freedom to think that he took it the way she had hoped and accepted it. Although, there was a voice in her head that told her to not be so hopeful, this was House she was dealing with. But, she pushed it aside and got out of bed. She wasted plenty of hours thinking of him last night, she had a lot to do today and wasn't going to let him suck up all of her hours today.

Cuddy was stuck in the kitchen for most of the party to constantly make sure there was enough food for everyone. She had things baking in the oven, cooking on the stove, and frozen things to be taken out of the freezer to be thrown on or in, in exchange of whatever was finished but, no one seemed to mind. They have all thrown the party before so all understood that the host was always occupied. But, she appreciated that the mothers of all the children in the neighborhood at one point or another would come in to lend a hand and tell her what a great job she is doing. She smiled, feeling pleased with herself at all the compliments which sounded scripted to her after a while, until Doris came in, who added something new to the conversation. "Honey," she said leaning in close to Cuddy as though what she was about to say she didn't want to be heard by anyone else, "I have to applaud you for dumping that little boy you were with for that brown-haired, blue-eyed, lanky fellow with the cane. He is much better on the eyes and-"

"What?" Cuddy looked over at Doris away from the oven which she just opened, looking confused. "Are you talking about House?"

"Is that his name? I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I only saw him when he walked in and-"

"He's here?" she slammed the oven shut more out of shock then anger and looked in the direction of the hall where she heard different conversations going on all at once.

"Yeah," Doris answered, now confused herself and opened the oven that Cuddy was now ignoring, with her mind elsewhere and took out what Cuddy was about to before she heard about House.

"He got here maybe...a half hour ago. I overheard him say that you asked him to come so I assumed you were together. I'm sorry if I got that wrong, I just heard that part and-"

"No, no, we are...kind of...it's complicated," Cuddy told Doris.

"Oh," Doris said in an understanding tone. "Well, I still stand by what I said. I don't know him, but he is good to look at," Doris said with a smirk and nudged Cuddy in the direction of the hall. "Go get him. He clearly came to make you happy. So maybe things aren't as 'complicated' as you say they are." Cuddy looked at Doris then around the kitchen at all she had to do, and Doris continued as though she read Cuddy's thoughts. "I got this. You go see," she paused for a second, "House," she said after she remembered his name.

"Thanks," Cuddy told her with a friendly smile at Doris. She pushed through the crowd, never imaging her house would ever be this loud and crowded, and Rachel was sleeping peacefully through all of it. She had her baby monitor next to her in the kitchen to listen in on her and heard her rhyhtmic breathing the entire time.

She shuffled through all the rooms where there were crowds of people and didn't find him anywhere. But, he had to be here, Cuddy thought. As she walked away back towards the kitchen in defeat, she glanced out the window and saw a tall figure with a limp holding a phone to his ear, and a cane, getting further away from the her house. She pushed herself through the people blocking the door that was still partly open and ran out to catch him.

"House!" she shouted when she closed in on him.

"Gotta go," he said into the phone and turned around to face her.

"You came."

"You asked."

"But, I didn't... I mean, after I asked, all that happened..."

"I got your message," he interrupted.

"And that's what made you decide to come?" she asked surprised, taking more steps to get closer to him.

"No. I've been thinking of coming since you asked. But-"

"I was stupid and freaked out, I know."

"We both were stupid," he shrugged his left shoulder, "so we're even now."

"But, you're still leaving," she stated.

He twisted his mouth and lifted his left hand that still held his cell phone, and started shifting his gaze around her as he spoke. "I got a call from my team, they need me to come back in. I was dumb enough to answer, so now.."

She smiled, "go."

He met her eyes again, "you want me to come back?" he asked in a serious tone.

"No, you don't have to. It'll probably be over by the time you're done."

He squinted one eye while the other stayed on her, "I can come and help you clean up."

"You hate cleaning."

"I hate working, and I hate people, I surrounded myself with them tonight...might as well keep going and push my limits."

Her smile got bigger, "you look good today. You didn't take any Vicodin today did you?"

"Is that a 'yes, House, please come back and help me?'"

"You don't want to tell me?"

He huffed, "no, I haven't taken any since the last time I took some...you know about that time. So, am I coming back or not?"

"Yeah, if you aren't too tired."

He nodded and limped closer to her, closing the gap between them and saw her face question what he was doing. He glanced towards the house and back down at her. "I kind of told everyone in there that I've been hittin' that for a while now...meaning, your that, so, I have to keep up my lie a little here," he smirked and bent down to kiss her. She welcomed his kiss, responding to it by opening her mouth wide when she felt his tongue trying to poke through and reached around his body with both arms, bringing him close as he swung his left arm around her lower back to do the same. After his tongue swirled around hers a moan escaped her which he smiled at against her lips. He pulled away from her and opened his eyes to look at her and watched as they were still shut but opened slowly a couple seconds later. "You okay?" he asked.

"I..." she kept her gaze on his mouth and licked her lips.

He grinned at what he did to her, and heard his phone ring which he slipped into his jean pocket right before he hooked his arm around her. He pulled it out and saw Thirteen's name. "You just can't live without me, can you?" he asked into the phone. Cuddy watched him as he listened on the other end. "Okay, well I'm coming. Don't call me again! Unless you want me to reach down into my pocket while I'm riding my motorcycle in and die because I crashed due to the distraction of the phone." He disconnected it, not allowing Thirteen to say anything else and met Cuddy's gaze. "I'll see you later." He turned around and Cuddy watched him limp to his motorcycle, and gave her one last look after he put his helmet on that he had hanging from his left handle bar and started it up and rode in the direction of the hospital...


	34. Chapter 34

Cuddy was leaning forward, picking things up that she found on the floor after the last of the neighbors left. She was lucky enough to have Rachel sleeping again after she woke up for a little while. She found it as a relief due to her need to clean. That was the part of this whole thing she dreaded the most. The clean up that she knew she wouldn't be able to stand to push until tomorrow, so was trying to get it all done while she still had the energy.

A half hour into it, she heard a familiar bang against her front door and stood up feeling a pain in her back and shoulders for the first time since she started cleaning. She opened it and was relieved to see House. His eyes however, didn't meet hers but rather, looked down her loose white t-shirt that hung low when she bent down to pick up the garbage bag she dropped right before opening the door. "You're not wearing a bra," he stated in amazement.

"No, I'm not," she answered in a matter of fact tone and turned away from him with the bag, as he closed the front door behind him after letting himself in. He surveyed the room and saw things on the floor and table tops still.

"This place is a mess," he stated.

"I know," she came back from around the corner with an empty garbage bag. "You're going to help me right?"

"Sure," he answered, taking it with his left hand and continued to look around after she left to go into another part of the room to clean. He limped over to the kitchen table which still had a collection of paper plates and plastic cups and straightened his cane and used it to push all the items onto the floor, with the garbage bag still in his hand.

Cuddy swirled around, "House! That's not helping!" she shouted. "You're supposed to put things in the bag, not just throw them on the floor," she continued as she rushed over to where he dumped everything and leaned down and started picking them up piece by piece.

He stood over her looking down. "You're right, I hate cleaning. You look like you're hurting," he told her observing the way she moved while collecting the items.

"I'm fine," she said shortly.

"No, you're not. Come here, I'll massage you, make you feel all better."

"House, I'm fine. I have to clean this up," she answered, sounding annoyed.

"The mess isn't going anywhere. You can stop for a few minutes, come on," he bent down and pulled her up by her arm and didn't let go as he pulled her with him into the living room where the couch was. "C'mon, Cuddy, sit down, in between my legs," he told her as he sat down and spread his legs wide and patted the cushion in between. She looked at him skeptically. "How else am I suppose to get to your shoulders without hurting my leg?"

She sighed, still unsure but moved closer to the couch. "Fine, but only for a few minutes. I have to finish cleaning," she told him sternly as she sat down where he wanted.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." He lifted both his hands to her shoulders and started massaging them. He watched for her reaction and let out a small smile when her head fell back and let out a long breathy moan signalling to him that he hit the right spot. His eyes wandered to her back and saw bare skin through her white t-shirt. He rubbed her shoulders a little bit longer and let his hands travel down and back up her back, glancing up quickly to the back of her head expecting her to tell him to stop, but went back to watching his hands when he didn't hear it. He shifted his sitting position, feeling his pants get tighter the more he touched her and didn't want her to know.

His hands both found their way to her lower back and his thumbs worked on the sides as his fingers curved around to her stomach to hold her in position as he moved his thumbs in small circles. Her head bent down this time as she let out another moan. He inhaled sharply and held it there letting it out slowly as his body was reacting to the noises she was making. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore it, but the more he touched her the louder and longer the moans got.

His eyes opened and became tempted to see how far he could go. He shifted his thumbs close to his fingers and slowly slid his hands around her sides and rested on her stomach. Having both arms wrapped around her from behind, without much thought of what to do next, she backed up into him and he let out a moan at the feel of her rubbing against him.

His sensations all through his body told him to keep going. She was still moaning at his touch, and he didn't see why he should be holding back any longer. His left hand trailed up to grab one of her breasts as his right slipped out from around her and pushed her hair to the left side and started kissing the exposed part of her neck when his hand found its way back around her, following in his other hands lead and grabbed her other breast.

Her moan got louder which caused him to kiss her neck harder and she pushed back further into him, moving back and forth on the cushion, he slouched his sitting position and his hands left her breasts and grabbed her hips to lift her up and on top of him, while at the same time, lifted her skirt. He fumbled with his button and zipper feeling like he was about to burst and placed her on top of him, pushing the side of her underwear out of the way for his entrance when he unzipped all the way down.

She pushed his legs together and his head fell back against the couch as she placed both her hands on his legs as leverage to bounce up and down with him inside of her, never turning around to face him. He squeezed her hips, leaning his body into hers the faster she went and he wrapped his arms tightly around her stomach when they both let out a loud moan, House breathing heavily into her back with Cuddy leaning all the way forward trying to catch her own breath. "Well," he said in between exhales, "it was only a few minutes."

Cuddy let out a laugh and started to straighten, causing House to do the same. His hands left her hips and fell to the side from feeling his energy drain out of him and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply to the feel of Cuddy twisting her body to face him with him still inside of her. She laughed pleased with herself for the state she put him in and kissed him.

Cuddy pulled away when she heard Rachel crying from her bedroom. "Did we wake her up?" House asked feeling guilty.

"Maybe," she answered with a grin. "We should learn to me more quiet from now on."

"Now on? There will be more of this?"

"Won't there?"

"I...have, no problem with repeat performances."

She chuckled and lifted herself up slowly and watched him moan as she guided him out. He grinned at her mischievous look she gave him as he stuffed himself back into his jeans and zipped up. "You still want me to stay and help you clean?" he asked her as she started walking to the hall and shifted around to answer him, leaning on the corner wall where the hall began. "No, you can go. I want to get this done tonight and you'll just either slow me down by doing it wrong and I have to redo it, or, you'll be a distraction."

"So...you're not going to look at this as me coming for sex and leaving are you? 'Cause I can stay."

She smiled, "no. I'm the one telling you to leave."

He nodded and looked around for his cane and grabbed it to stand. "Okay, then, I'll see you...Monday," he said more as a question then a statement.

"I'll call you," she told him.

"Okay, you go, take care of that," he said using his cane to point passed her in the hallway referring to Rachel's cry.

"Her," she corrected.

"That's what I meant," her expression softened. "And I'll, see you when I see you," he limped over to the front door to let himself out and turned back around to face her. "Good night, Cuddy."

She smiled at him, "good night, House." His eyes lingered on her and turned to leave and after the door closed, Cuddy went down the hall to tend to Rachel...


	35. Chapter 35

House was sitting at his piano that Wilson let him put in the living room, playing the next morning when his phone started vibrating on the top, where he set it down. He lifted his right hand off the keys and grabbed it to answer, with his left continuing the song. "Yeah?" he said into it without looking at the caller ID, but with Wilson having gone back to the hospital, thought it might be him.

"House?" Cuddy asked.

His left hand left the keys and fell into his lap. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothings wrong," she stammered nervously. "I was just calling because..well, tomorrow is Christmas."

"So I've heard." He paused, waiting for a response but didn't get one. "And?" he asked, now curious as to why she was suddenly unable to speak to him.

"Are you...doing anything for it?"

He squinted one eye, thinking back to if Wilson said he was dragging him anywhere or not, but couldn't recall. "Not that I know of. I'm moving back to my old apartment the day after but-"

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm moving back. I can be on my own now, and I still have the place. So, why not? But, that's the day after. So on Christmas...nothing. Why? You have another party that you want me to help clean up after?" he asked in a teasing tone.

She chuckled a throaty chuckle which he never gets tired of. "No, there won't be any parties. But, if you aren't doing anything..." she paused, and sighed, "are you really going to make me ask you?"

"I have no idea what you are trying to ask me," he said innocently.

She let out a long sigh on the other end, "you can come spend it with me if you want. My Mom wanted to take Rachel in the morning. So after noon or so, it'll just be me here." There was a long pause on the other end which got her heart racing an extra beat quicker. "House?" she asked.

His left hand fell back onto the keys to continue playing, "what time do you want me there?"

She smiled both at hearing him play, and his answer. "Whatever works for you. You don't have any patients right now that will keep you at the hospital, do you?"

"Nooope," he answered, watching his fingers dance around the keys, "what about three?"

"Three is good."

"Okay, see you tomorrow at three," he hit the disconnect button without another word and placed his phone back where it was, and his right hand joined his left in playing.

* * *

Cuddy nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard the banging of a cane against her front door. She had been so nervous all day about spending Christmas with House that she paced during most of it. Not that she had never seen him on or near the day before, but, this was a much different kind of Christmas with him. It was at her house instead of the hospital, and it was just him, and no other staff.

She frantically ran her hand through her hair and nudged up her bra, while laughing at herself the instant she did it. All the years of yelling at him to not stare at her breasts, and she just pushed them up in hopes that he does.

"Coming!" she shouted, after she turned back around forgetting something then ran back to the door to open it.

"I know its a little past three but I..." House stopped when he caught sight of her cleavage that stuck out of her blouse. He shook his head, "I'm sorry I...forget it," he widened his eyes and glanced up at her, "hi," he said taking a step further inside.

"Merry Christmas, House," Cuddy said with a small smile, handing him a long, large wrapped box. He stood motionless, his eyes looking the box up and down and over at her and held her gaze. Her smile was slowly fading the longer he looked at her and without a word, he turned, walked out the front door, and closed it behind him.

Cuddy didn't know what to make of what just happened. She turned to look at the living room, like that had some magical answer that she wasn't seeing, but it didn't. He had walked out of the room on her plenty of times with no warning before, so, the act wasn't new to her in the slightest. But the feeling of being abandoned was.

She dropped the box she was holding against the wall and sighed, leaning against the front door with her eyes closed, feeling stupid to not have seen this coming. Somewhere down the line, she thought he would do something to hurt her the way she was hurting now; what Lucas had been trying to tell her since the beginning, and a part of her knew he was right when he said that. She just always imagined when that time came, they would have at least, begun longer than a night. Fear ran through her when thinking maybe he did just stop by for sex that night. That his thinking is they hadn't begun anything. He did ask if he left right then, if that's how she would take it, which meant he had to have thought of it.

She slid her body down to sit on the floor wishing she went with her Mom after she picked Rachel up. She might have ended up spending the whole Christmas hearing criticism about everything, but at least she knew she wouldn't be ditched. If anything, she would be the one to leave, not the other way around. She stared blankly into the living room, letting time go by when twenty minutes later she heard the same bang she was so accustomed to, and a wave of happiness went through her, forgetting all her hurt feelings instantly; he was back. She pushed herself off the ground and opened the front door.

"I didn't know we were doing presents," he told her limping in when she opened the door wider, enough for him. "Just a little something for you to wear when we're...hanging out," he said casually while handing her the bag.

She poked her head in and gave him a look of confusion. "It's empty."

"Yeah," he stated, "you're the one who said you wanted what happened the other night to happen again," he shrugged, "I don't know how we can do it with clothes on."

She gave him a mischievous smile, "we weren't really undressed, but, we still managed," she told him remembering they only exposed what they needed.

"True, but, it's much better with nothing," he motioned his head to the box she put up against the wall. "What's that?"

"Oh its...nothing."

"Nothing that you were going to give me a half hour ago, nothing?"

She looked at him sheepishly when he extended his left arm out for her to hand it to him. She grabbed it and gave it to him and he yanked it from her hands and set his cane against the wall behind him to have his right hand help to rip it open like a ten year old would. He pulled off the tape from the top of the box and pulled out another cane. She winced, not knowing if he would like it, but relaxed when she saw a smile across his face. "Niiiiice! This looks like my old derby cane!"

"Yeah, that was a favorite of mine out of all your canes, so I wanted to get you another one," she said with a smile on her face, pleased that he liked it.

He turned and looked behind him, grabbed his cane he came with and shoved it to her, "here. Take this if you ever become cripple," he used his new cane to help him into the living room and turned to face her with a grin, "if that happens, we'll be the pair of cripples in the hospital! We can have races and everything!"

She chuckled while leaning his old cane against the wall and walked into the living room to follow him and took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Well, since I'm using your present right away, don't you think its only fair that-"

"What? To strip down naked because that's what you 'got me?'" she said it sarcastically, and as a joke, but her body reacted to the thought of it. "You were just hear nearly forty-eight hours ago-"

"Forty-eight hours is not 'just' in the life span of a gastrotrich's life. Their lifespan is about three days. So to them that's practically their whole life before they get the chance to-"

"What the hell is a gastrotrich?"

He paused, looking at her puzzled, "what the hell is a gastrotrich?" he repeated. "They are little tiny animals that are abundant in fresh water and marine environments," his puzzled look intensified, "how can you not know that?"

"How can you know that?" she challenged.

His expression changed and he looked sad, "I'm sorry, Cuddy, I don't know if I can have sex with anyone who doesn't know what a-"

"Oh shut up, House," she interrupted and brought her left hand up to his cheek and leaned in to kiss him while she shifted her body to straddle him.

"Okay, well, maybe just this one time," he grabbed both sides of her blouse and took it off, and threw it to his right and dove his face into her cleavage while moving his hands around her and unhooked her bra and yanked it off and tossed it in the same direction as her blouse.

She looked down, trying to see around him, still having his face buried in her chest and unbuttoned his pants and unzipped it for him and pulled him out of his underwear. He groaned when her hands stroked him and she pulled at the back of his t-shirt and yanked it forward and off of him, when he bunched up her skirt and worked her panties down to her thigh, just enough for access and she hoisted her body up slightly and landed with him inside of her.

He let out a long groan when he felt her around him and she smiled at his reaction. His hands wrapped around her hips to take control of her movements and his lips found hers, jabbing his tongue into her mouth as far as he could get it. She screamed into his mouth as he guided her faster and harder, causing him to get deeper inside.

He broke the kiss and went back to her breasts as she bent her head back and moaned louder than she ever has with anyone. Every spot, every place his hands and mouth touched her sent waves of pleasure all through her body. He sucked hard on her right breast to keep it in his mouth as he quickened the speed of guiding her, feeling closer to finishing, groaning with each thrust as his tongue licked every part of her he could.

He climaxed inside of her and his arms slipped off of her, mouth dropping open to release her breast and breathed heavily as Cuddy fell forward to lean on his body for support. His arms wrapped around her lower back and she moved to face him when her breath got more steady and she leaned in and gave him light kisses on the lips. She giggled into each of them, still feeling sensations through her body like little aftershocks after an earth quake. She parted from his lips and laid her head on his right shoulder and felt him continue with light kisses on her shoulder that was facing him. His fingers trailed aimlessly around her back and he looked ahead.

"What is it, House?" she asked unmoved, sensing him thinking.

"I was thinking."

"I know, but, what were you thinking?" she asked.

"So, now what?"

The End- note to readers, thank you so much for all of you who have stuck with this story. I could have gone on and on with it because I enjoyed writing it as much as some of you have enjoyed reading it. But, sadly, I knew it had to end at some point, and this to me, seemed like the perfect ending to leave it where season seven began, since initially, this is a season six era story. I will probably be starting a new story soon, so I hope some of you read and enjoy that one as well. Thanks again you guys! :)


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